Kampala, Uganda | URN | The Uganda Communications Commission has issued a seven-day ultimatum for operators of unlicensed WiFi hotspots to voluntarily shut down their operations or face enforcement.
UCC estimates that approximately 4,000 unlicensed public Wi-Fi hotspot providers operate across Uganda, with numbers rising daily.
The commission warns that enforcement will involve removing illegal installations and seizing equipment.
The commission has completed its assessment and is prepared to launch a nationwide crackdown on businesses reselling internet services without the required licences.
Speaking to journalists at UCC headquarters on Tuesday, Nyombi Thembo, the Executive Director of the commission, said they had delayed enforcement after meeting hotspot providers in July to better understand their business models and the challenges they faced.
According to Nyombi Thembo, the operators purchase high-speed fixed broadband services, including fibre to the home and fixed wireless access, such as 5G, from licensed telecommunications companies before reselling internet access to the public without authorisation.
He argues that the practice undermines fair competition, government revenue, consumer protection and national security.
He explained that licensed operators charge an average retail price of Shs2,000 per gigabyte, inclusive of taxes and other regulatory costs, while unlicensed hotspot providers sell the same volume of data for about Shs1,000.
It is estimated that the government loses approximately Shs148 billion annually in tax revenue because of the practice.“This is not considered offering a fair level of internet service. For us, this is a sort of economic crime,” he said.
The commission identified several risks associated with unlicensed hotspots, including inadequate consumer protection, network interference, tax revenue losses, damage to public infrastructure and security vulnerabilities.
Nyombi Thembo revealed that telecommunications operators had reported being able to identify about 80 percent of unusual usage associated with the hotspots, increasing the likelihood that affected services could be disrupted.
He announced that his commission is to start a nationwide crackdown and is also working with the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to restrict the importation of telecommunications equipment by unlicensed operators, with the aim of ensuring that such equipment is imported only by licensed providers.
The planned nationwide enforcement exercise will involve identifying and dismantling illegal installations and seizing routers and other related equipment.
Despite the planned crackdown, Nyombi Thembo said his commission is exploring ways to help hotspot operators transition into legally recognised businesses rather than lose their livelihoods entirely.
He said operators could consider applying for a regional Public Service Provider licence, quoted at USD3,000 for operations outside the central region, or an ISP licence for the central region, quoted at USD30,000.
Julianne Mweheire, the Director of Economic Regulation, Content and Consumer Affairs, blamed illegal operators for stagnant mobile internet prices by diverting customers from licensed mobile networks.
Mweheire said mobile network operators had lost approximately 1.5 million customers to illegal operations, a development she said was affecting the industry’s ability to reduce data prices despite growing usage.
She further said that internet prices should continue declining as more customers adopt data services and the cost per unit falls.
However, Mweheire said that UCC observed that data prices had stagnated since 2025, contrary to expectations that increased usage would make internet services more affordable.
“Affordability is obviously a result of cost and usage, and now we have seen, from the market, we have seen a plateau in pricing,” she said.
She attributed the trend partly to customers migrating from licensed mobile networks to services she said are illegal, arguing that the shift was undermining the benefits that should come with increased data consumption.
According to Mweheire, the commission also raised concerns about the legal status of operators providing the services, saying an assessment against 11 regulatory and legislative requirements found that the businesses had failed to meet any of them.
She noted that operators scored zero out of 11 on the assessment, which was intended to establish the extent of their non-compliance.
She further explained that UCC rejected calls for the businesses to be regulated in their existing form, arguing that they had not met any of the requirements examined.
“They have been saying, ‘You regulate us as we are. How, where do I start? Zero out of the 11 aspects which we look at,” Mweheire said.
The commission said the assessment was conducted as part of efforts to examine the operations of the businesses and explain to the public why they were considered illegal.
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