First it was Celtel, then rebranded to Zain and now to Bharti Airtel. Recently, a group of top officials were in Kampala to finalise the deal. The Sunrise's Henry Mulindwa talked to the Managing director of Zain Uganda Yesse oenga about the deal:

Qn: Bharti promised to push the government for lower interconnection charges between telecom operators. What interconnection charges are you hoping for?      

These are interconnect charges and therefore there has to be a meeting of minds on all the parties involved. Government is an enabler and regulator. But, ultimately, if we are all focused on getting our communication services to reach most Ugandans, we will do what's right.

Qn: During Bharti Airtel's recent press conference in Kampala, much emphasis was put on extending business into rural areas. How is it going to be done?

We are going to expand the network and improve our distribution. We have to look at new ways of doing this to enable us to make a step change in the delivery of services to the people that live in rural areas.

Qn: Some people consider that the current Zain calling tariffs have significantly reduced over the last couple of months. With a $100m investment, how is Bharti planning to recover the money with the already existing lower rates under various promotions like "Kika", "Flexxy" and "Unlimited"?

Bharti Airtel is in Africa and Uganda for the long run. It would be foolhardy to expect to get all the returns on our investment in the short term. If we are to deliver on our promise to expand our services and make them affordable, we have to be looking at the long term.

Qn: Zain is operating in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. Now that Bharti has come on board, are there plans of extending its operations to other countries across the world?  

The operative word in that question should have been 'WAS', Zain 'was' operating in 18 countries. - Bharti Airtel is now operating in 20 different countries with over 180 million customers. The plan is to ensure that we are delivering to our customers expectations and then begin to look at what other opportunities exist.

Qn: You indicated that Bharti Airtel is to strengthen its corporate social responsibility programme by, for example, extending education support to underprivileged children. How different is this from the already existing "Build. Our Nation" by Zain?

The core of Bharti Airtel's CSR programmes is education for the girl child. We have built and run many schools in India and have seen what effect that has had on society. We are confident we can achieve similar levels of transformation in Africa.

Qn:  What other successful innovations has Bharti Airtel undertaken in other countries that could be adapted to the Ugandan market?

Each market and environment requires different solutions and services. Bharti Airtel has just begun its African journey and will look at each market and see what's most suitable for it. If we already have something that can be applied, we shall do so swiftly.

Qn:  What is it that attracted Bharti to Uganda's market?

Bharti's deal with Zain covered 15 different countries and therefore the deal was conceived and completed with that scope in mind. Uganda is a market that has only 30% penetration and thus has tremendous potential for growth.

Qn:  Apart from voice and data, telecommunication companies have gone into other sectors like money transfer. What other related innovations can Bharti introduce?

The Bharti Group has a diverse portfolio of interests. These range from the voice and data to enterprise and digital TV. We will naturally be looking at the opportunities that exist for those businesses in Africa.

Qn: There is concern that Bharti's advent in Uganda is likely to cause some lay offs. Can you reassure Ugandans they will not lose their jobs?

Bharti Airtel is going to invest $100 million dollars in Uganda. This will certainly offer many opportunities for increased employment. We are therefore here to create not kill jobs. blog comments powered by Disqus

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