Hits Telecom Uganda prepares for change in shareholding

Sources close to Hits Telecom Uganda have told Comm. that the licensee would launch service in a matter of weeks, in line with licensing conditions, and thereby circumvent threats from the regulator that the concession may be withdrawn.

Edwin Rowell (left), CEO of Hits Telecom Uganda, receiving the universal licence in February 2007

  At the end of July, Uganda’s telecoms regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), warned that Hits Telecom Uganda risked losing its operating licence if it did not commercially launch its network by September. The licensee was granted a mobile concession in March 2007 and was given 18 months from that date to start offering services.

Hits Telecom Uganda is reported to have built part of its network, which is supplied by Alcatel-Lucent, and carried out test calls. However planned launch dates have so far been missed.

Hits Telecom Uganda – not to be confused with Hits Africa – is currently backed by Middle East and African Investment Company (MEAIC), which is a private equity company registered in the UAE, and owned by a number of high profile individuals and institutions of significant means, predominantly from within the Gulf region.

The universal service licence Hits Telecom Uganda possesses allows it to operate a range of access technologies including CDMA, GSM, WCDMA and WiMAX, and also permits the licensee to deploy an international gateway.

The source claimed that Hits Telecom Uganda would soft launch services in the coming weeks with the current shareholder structure, though after the launch the operator is likely to be subject to a significant shift in shareholding, with a European telecoms operator becoming the majority owner.

Hits Telecom Uganda is required to launch services with the same shareholders that were granted in the licence agreement, and it is only after coming to market that it is permissible for changes in shareholding to be made.

Hits Telecom Uganda is said to also be in possession of other operating licences in Africa, which following the change in shareholding, the operator would like to pursue and bring to market.