Views: 4
MTN Uganda Chief Executive Officer Wim Vanhelleputte (r) welcomes the State Minister for ICT and National Guidance, Honourable Joyce Nabbosa Ssebugwawo(l) to the MTN Mutundwe data center in Kampala yesterday
Ali Monzer, MTN Uganda Chief Technical Information Officer explains the vitality of the Mutundwe Data Center during a courtesy visit paid by Ministry of ICT officials yesterday.JP
MTN yesterday hosted a delegation from the Ministry of ICT and National
Guidance spearheaded by the State Minister and the Permanent Secretary
for a site visit of its switch and data center in Mutundwe.
Mutundwe switch and data center is a prime facility that houses MTN data
servers and facilitates connection of the telecom’s 15million customers
through 2G, 3G and 4G network across the country.
MTN Uganda Chief Executive Officer Wim Vanhelleputte explains to the Permanent Secretary Ministry of ICT, Dr Aminah Zawedde how the device at the MTN Mutundwe data center operates.
Government lauded MTN for the investments made in the sector and its
efforts towards providing quality services to the public.
Friday 10th December 2021, Kampala- MTN Uganda yesterday hosted the Ministry of
Information, Communications Technology (ICT) and National Guidance Information for
a courtesy visit at its data center in Mutundwe.
A delegation from the Ministry led by State Minister for ICT, Hon Joyce Nabbosa
Ssebugwawo accompanied by Dr Amina Zawedde, the Permanent Secretary visited
the site where they were welcomed by MTN Chief Executive Officer, Wim
Vanhelleputte.
Permanent Secretary Ministry of ICT, Dr Aminah Zawedde makes her remarks during a courtesy visit paid by a delegation from the Ministry of ICT at the MTN Mutundwe data center yesterday..JPG
Addressing the officials in Mutundwe yesterday, Vanhelleputte,MTN Uganda Chief
Executive Officer welcomed and appreciated the State Minister and her delegates for
taking the time to tour the site.
“I would like to thank the Government of Uganda for creating an enabling environment
for business growth and prosperity through continuous dialogue and collaboration with
the private sector with the aim of extending quality services to the entire population,”
Vanhelleputte said.
The $256million Mutundwe switch and data center commissioned in 2012, is a prime
facility that houses MTN data servers and facilitates connection of the telecom’s
15million customers through 2G, 3G and 4G network across the entire country.
According to Ali Monzer, MTN Uganda’s Chief Technical Information Officer, Mutundwe
switch and data center is one of two parent sites owned by MTN through which
network signals are transmitted to facilitate calls across the country.
“MTN has six sites distributed across the country including Mutundwe and Mbuya which
are the parent sites (brain) of the operations supported by other minor sites in Mbarara,
Masindi, Lira and Tororo to enable MTN provide services such as voice calls, data and
mobile money,” he said.
Monzer also added: “It is with the support of these sites that the 2550 masts owned by
MTN provide 97% population coverage on 2G, 91% coverage on 3G and 61%
population coverage on LTE which sums up to 72% land mass coverage.”
In accordance with its licence obligation, MTN will within the next two years further
invest in the expansion of land mass coverage beyond 72% to 90%.
Acknowledging the investment made at the site, Hon Ssebugwawo prized MTN’s
commitment and efforts in ensuring quality service delivery to the public noting that the
telecom plays a pivotal role in bolstering economic growth of the country.
“I would like to take this opportunity to commend MTN for the great work it is doing. I
was greatly impressed by the state-of-the-art facilities housed at this data center that
have facilitated service provision to the public for so many years,” Hon Ssebugwawo
said, committing government’s continued support towards growth of the ICT sector.
The State Minister was reiterated by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Zawedde who said
that the investment made by MTN into the telecom sector gives the Ministry assurance
and comfort in the potential growth of the communication services in the country.
She also appealed for collaboration and harmonious synchronization amongst the
stakeholders to boost digitization of the economy through continual innovatio