Over 50 per cent of the population is now covered By mobile cellular and some 40 towns have service. The planned entry of UTL into the mobile market should further spur growth with some estimates putting the potential mobile client base at half a million. The Internet market is also liberalized in Uganda. Furthermore, ISPs can provide their own national and international infrastructure. Eight ISP licences had been issued as of February 2000.
Demand is high as evidenced by an explosion of cybercaf s in Kampala over the last year.
There is considerable scope to expand Internet usage in the country since almost all users are currently in Kampala. Furthermore, ISP charges of USD 50 a month for unlimited access are relatively high compared to income especially considering that telephone usage charges must be added to this. Uganda is one of the countries participating in the ITU Internet Case Studies through its Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications.