Broadband, cashless payments future of telecoms – MTN boss
What you need to know:
- The platform already has about 100,000 customers who have used it to make payments.
- Mr Frank Tumwebaze, the ICT and Information minister, said investments made by government are beginning to pay off in terms of increasing telephony penetration.
Kampala. MTN chief executive officer Wim Vanhelleputte has said the future of telecommunication companies will be in mobile broadband and mobile payments.
Speaking on the sidelines of the MTN Expo to celebrate 20 years in Uganda at the weekend, Mr Vanhelleputte, said: “There is still a lot of growth around mobile money payments and data. People are data-hungry and they want to have a smart phone even if it is basic because everybody wants to be part of a connected world. It is no longer about calling. Give it another two years, voice will start going down and data usage will massively go up.”
Mr Vanhelleputte also emphasised the move towards a cashless economy as the next big thing for telecoms, saying within five or more years “there won’t be bank notes.”
At least 74 per cent of Ugandans, according to Bank of Uganda still rely on bank notes to make payments.
However, there is a rapid move towards e-payment assisted by mobile money and internet banking.
Bank of Uganda has previously indicated that it is working on a National Payment Policy that seeks to reduce cash payments by 2022.
Mr Vanhelleputte said they have been developing products such as MoMo Pay, which was launched four months ago to assist government to achieve the cashless economy.
The platform already has about 100,000 customers who have used it to make payments.
Mr Frank Tumwebaze, the ICT and Information minister, said investments made by government are beginning to pay off in terms of increasing telephony penetration.
“The issue now, is quality of the service. I hope the next 20 years will be years of high standard of service, listening to customer concerns and deepening innovations,” he said, arguing that telecoms must now invest in reliable and affordable broadband connectivity if they are to make sustainable impact in the communications sector.
Information Technology and Communications minister Frank Tumwebaze (3rd right) with other officials learn about the 5G in the Huawei booth during the MTN @20 expo at Kololo Independence Grounds. Second right is Mr Liujiawei, the managing director of Huawei Uganda. During the expo, Huawei showcased the future of technology with latest technological trends such as the Virtual Reality gaming technology, RuralStar solution and the connected cow agricultural solution.
