DAS technology is commonly used in large buildings like Hospitals, Shopping malls, office buildings, and hotels with poor network reception. It uses a system of distributed small antennas that are connected to a single common source or gateway and distributed throughout an area to improve wireless coverage.

As per Airtel Uganda’s smart poles implementation, the telco notes that they are designed to facilitate the transition to 5G network technology that was recently announced, as ATC Uganda also continues to work closely with mobile network operators to support the transition to 5G.

While speaking at the launch of the Smart Pole in downtown Kampala, Mr. Manoj, the Airtel Uganda Managing Director, noted that the telco Airtel has previously received hundreds of complaints for weak signals in high-density areas like Luwum Street.

To address this, the telco decided to challenge the ATC and Airtel engineering teams to come up with a lasting solution since users in these areas rely a lot on mobile networks for business hence the introduction of smart poles as he said.

“We have already established 6 poles in the city. Additionally, We are committed to reducing carbon emissions in our services therefore, we thank ATC for providing a green solution.”

said Manoj Murali – Managing director, Airtel Uganda.

In return, the CEO of ATC Uganda Dorothy Kabagambe Ssemanda appreciated Airtel Uganda for the strategic partnership aimed at improving the quality of telecommunications services in Kampala.

While at the launch, the deputy director of KCCA expressed his gratitude to Airtel and ATC Uganda for partnering with the City Authority on their mission to create a smart city. Since may businesses in the city rely on voice and data network traffic, providing the smart poles will accelerate the network reception for people working in buildings across Kampala.

For now, as 5G is the main goal Airtel Uganda has set to achieve in 2023, the introduction of smart poles makes it easy for business people to access quality voice and data network speeds to meet their goals.

Previously, you needed to know all Airtel shortcodes in order to use a particular service you may want, now, the new Airtel Uganda *100# menu addresses that by making atleast 90% of their products and services available through this single shortcode.

First, Airtel rolled out announcements to attract users towards this new improved menu, and now that it’s fully implemented, you can access most of its services through the menu. Similar to the 100 toll free customer care line, the Airtel Uganda *100# menu is one that is easy to remember as its relatable to the customer help line.

Services under the new Airtel Uganda *100# menu

As per the new Airtel Uganda *100# menu, it’s now easy to find all services you need by simply entering the shortcode in your phone’s dial pad. For example, just in case you forget Airtel uses the *185# code for Airtel money by mistaking it with *165# for MTN Mobile Money, then, you can simply dial *100*2# to access the service.

In summary, Airtel is continuously improving its service offers, and that is a good gesture for users who have little or no clue about most of the services it offers. With the new *100# menu, every user will be able to access what they need in no time, for now, this MTN Uganda could follow this path by improving their *160# alternative.

Each of the smartphones cost UGX 250,000 if no promotional offer is running. But, the Airtel 4G smartphone now follows a trajectory that has set its price at UGX 150,000 with attractive specifications.

In comparison, you are required to pay UGX 49,000 for the MTN Kabode Supa smartphone as an initial deposit, then, clear the balance in 6 months which sets your total pay at UGX 250,000, versus the Airtel 4G Smartphone that now trails at UGX 150,000.

As a fact, the MTN Kabode Supa has no official images versus the Airtel 4G Smartphone which has its real images with the Benco branding displayed on its marketing items. What’s used on the MTN Kabode Supa marketing items are images of the original MTN Kabode that was first shipped before an upgrade with the Supa tagline. The actual MTN Kabode Supa is an ITEL AC250 smartphone.

By specifications, the ITEL AC250 (MTN Kabode Supa) is comparable to the Airtel 4G Smartphone and both smartphones boast with 4G connectivity. However, the difference majorly reflects in the battery capacity with the Kabode Supa borrowing ITEL’s big battery prowess at 2050mAh, and the Airtel 4G smartphone bowing with a 1800mAh capacity.

Both devices come with Free MTN Data for the MTN Kabode Supa and free Airtel Data for the Airtel 4G Smartphone redeemable once you purchase the smartphone. Optionally, you can buy 1 year of internet access at UGX 86,500 for the Airtel 4G Smartphone.

Verdict: MTN Kabode Supa Vs Airtel 4G Smartphone, the device you should buy

Based on our findings about both the MTN Kabode Supa and the Airtel 4G Smartphone, both devices are only good for users switching from feature phones to a smartphone for the first time. However, if you have used serious mid-range or high-range devices, you will find both devices extremely disappointing and slow.

However, in our view, the Airtel 4G Smartphone is the best smartphone you can buy since it has no hidden costs that are often overcharged in the buy-on-loan schemes, and the real product images are used in its marketing item, unlike the MTN Kabode Supa that uses images of the old MTN Kabode.

More so, to buy the MTN Kabode Supa, you have to go through the full process of filling in the pay mpola mpola forms versus the Airtel 4G Smartphone which you can use as fast as you hand over the money at your nearest Airtel service center.

Much as a receiver’s name and phone number display well when sending money using Airtel money in Uganda, sometimes you could send a much higher amount than you intended to.

For example, imagine paying for a product that requires you to send money to the seller directly on their mobile? But by mistake, you send a higher amount above the agreed figure. You try calling the seller to refund the balance, only to find their mobile phone is switched off. That’s where reversing the money using Airtel money comes in.

To reverse money sent to a wrong number using Airtel Money, or a high figure sent to the correct number, initiate the reversal on your own as below:

• Open the Airtel money Text SMS that confirms the money you sent.
• Copy the Transaction ID in the message. OR, dial *185*10# and copy the ID from your recent transactions page.
• Dial *185# on your phone’s dial pad.
• Select option 10 (My Account).
• Select option 8 (My Transaction Reversals).
• Choose Option 1 (Initiate Transaction Reversal).
• Select option 1 (Other Send Transactions).
• Enter the Transaction ID you copied from your Airtel money message.
• Confirm the transaction details, sent amount, and receiver number.
• Enter your Airtel Money PIN to confirm the reversal.

Now, unlike MTN where you have to call the customer care line straight away, after initiating a transaction reversal on your phone using Airtel money, call the receiver and tell them to approve your reversal in order to receive the money-back instantly. To approve a reversal if you are the receiver, follow the steps below.

• Dial *185#
• Select option 10 (My Account).
• Choose option 8 (My Transaction Reversals).
• Select option 2 (Approve Transaction Reversal).
• Choose the transaction from the list (option 1) if it’s only 1 person that has started a reversal.
• Enter your Airtel Money PIN to confirm reversal.

However, in cases where you can’t notify the receiver to approve the reversal since only a few can accept to reverse the money back to your Airtel money account. Simply call the Airtel customer care line on *100* and tell the agent to approve your reversal in order to receive the money back.

If the transaction remains unapproved by the recipient or customer care agent after 3 days, your money is automatically reversed to your phone without any action required. However, you will receive your money back if your transaction meets the following requirements:

• The receiver must have not withdrawn the money.
• You must have initiated the transaction reversal as illustrated in the above steps.
• For instant reversals, call the customer care team on *100* to approve the reversal.

In summary, you can reverse money sent to a wrong number using Airtel Money by self-initiating the reversal, then have it approved by a customer care agent or the receiver.

The partnership was launched at Sylvia Agro Park in Zirobwe Town Council, Uganda. In attendance, the EzyAgric CEO, George William Luyinda, the Airtel Uganda Marketing director, Henry Njoroge, and the founder of Victoria Seeds, Ms. Josephine Okot asserted the need for improving agriculture standards by leveraging the current digital era.

Agriculture is a very big thing and we picked it because there is capital for you to this which is land and the people. We as Airtel came to this to ensure that our subscribers receive the best agronomy advice from the best and that why we chose EzyAgric.

Said  Njoroge Henry Kamau – Marketing Director, Airtel Uganda

To access the advisory services, a farmer must dial *163#, and follow prompts to subscribe. Once subscribed, you can choose to receive weekly advisory content either through the EzyAgric App for Smartphone holders or through SMS.

• Dial *163# 
• Select Airtel Cares 
• Select Agriculture 
• Select Preferred Channel to receive the Agricultural Content, i.e. (1: Receiving Via SMS. 2: receive Agricultural content via the EzyAgric App) 
• Select Preferred languages
• Select Preferred Crop 
• Select 1 to subscribe and 2 to cancel. 

If a farmer uses the EzyAgric App, free 500MBs will be sent per month for use on all in-app content. With the incentive, it becomes easier for farmers to access farming information without spending on data purchases.

At EzyAgric, we believe in creating endless farming Possibilities, and the only way to do that is through digitization of agriculture. We have all seen what digitization has done to all mega industries.

Farmers will have access to advice from a range of resources that are available through our long list of extension workers within several districts and the list of products that are available on the EzyAgric App from certified suppliers like Grainpulse, Victoria Seeds, Bukoola, East African Seeds, Naseco among others

Says George William Luyinda – The Chief Executive Officer, EzyAgric

This Advisory content includes Tips for better harvests, Weather information, weed management, pest and disease control, and post-harvest tips. All content is accessible in 6 languages, English, Runyakitara, Luganda, Luo, Lumasaba, and Lugisu as preset by the user.

The detailed crop specific advisory will include:

• Plant protection (Pest and Disease Management): Tips on Pest and Disease scouting, monitoring, IPM (Integrated Pest Management), including the use of cultural, biological, and chemical control measures against pests and diseases. 
• Plant Nutrition: crop-specific fertiliser application includes recommendable fertilisers, rates, and application methods needed at different crop cycle and watering requirement schedules. 
• Seed selection Management and planting techniques. 
• Post-Harvest handling. 
• Weather information. 
• General crop management Agronomy. 
• Direct contact with the Agronomist. 

For many years, farmers could not reach their optimum potential because of limited extension, access to seeds and lack of alignment of information on when to plant, what to plant, where to buy inputs, and at what price.

I am glad EzyAgric has been able to capitalize this and made it possible to share agronomical information to farmers through their digitized platform

Said Josephine Okot, the Founder and CEO Victoria Seeds

Well, both MTN Freedom and Airtel Chillax bundles follow the same legacy of ensuring cheap internet access for customers. Though normal data prices are still high as compared to market newbies like Lyca Mobile Uganda, the new no-expiry bundles present a levelled field that gives customers more power over what data they can buy, and when they choose to exhaust it.

As opposed to normal data bundles that range between daily, weekly and monthly tiers, no-expiry packages only require a single activation, and thereafter use your loaded data bundle for as long as you want. To our experience, both MTN Freedom and Airtel Chillax Bundles offer similar packages, but with a few differences in speed and pricing.

Packages and Pricing

Much as MTN Freedom bundles were launched first in Uganda, Airtel Chillax Bundles follow the red telco’s trend of copy and perfect it. Similar to the Freedom packages and pricing, Chillax bundles are few in number, but host more data priced fairly as opposed to normal bundles. In simple terms, MTN Freedom has more offers from as low as 6MB, but Airtel’s Chillax bundles host more data from a high of 1.5GB.

Airtel Chillax Bundles

MTN Freedom Bundles

MTN Freedom vs Airtel Chillax Bundle Internet Speeds

Currently, Airtel Uganda is ranked as the fastest mobile internet provider in the country as per a recent study by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC). By this status, you can rank Airtel as a good internet provider in terms of speed, but in terms of offers, then, MTN maintains a lion’s share with generally attractive bundles.

Well, we tested both MTN Freedom and Airtel Chillax Internet Bundles to prove how fast a 100MB file can be downloaded off the Internet, and as per our findings, MTN Freedom ranks as a tortoise package in comparison to an Airtel’s Chillax bundle. In fact, other MTN Daily, Weekly and Monthly bundles perform at higher speeds, but a loaded Freedom package then attracts slow network speeds.

This means MTN Uganda offers throttled internet speeds for its Freedom bundles as compared to Airtel’s Chillax Bundles that seem to be open without have any sort of speed limitations. By this standard, enjoying full 4G network performance becomes a necessity making Airtel Chillax bundles quite the better offer.

Validity and How to buy

Both MTN Freedom and Airtel Chillax bundles are no-expiry bundles meaning they’re not limited to daily, weekly or monthly validity timeframes. However, the two bundles differ in activation as the former can only be loaded through the MY MTN App and the latter through the MY Airtel App or through the *175# shortcode.

So, if you own a smartphone you can buy both MTN Freedom and Airtel Chillax bundles, but if you own a feature phone or MiFi router, then the latter is designed for you to utilize through the Airtel data USSD shortcode. With pricing, buying channels, and internet speeds factored in one equation, Airtel Chillax bundles are the best to load for a good internet browsing experience.

Now, Airtel Chillax Bundles are here as the new form of internet data packages that never expire until a customer hits the 100% usage mark. Much as Airtel’s new bundles seem like a copy of MTN’s Freedom bundles, the red telco offers a better package to customers by having unthrottled traffic on all daily, weekly and monthly tiers.

In fact, the telco’s chief commercial officer Amit Kapur notes that Airtel Chillax bundles are a result of the COVID19 pandemic that has forced customers to spend more time on the internet than ever before. Common user behaviour on the internet also shifted from leisure to work with virtual workplace tools becoming more popular than social media platforms.

“In the last one year or so, the world has changed as data has become one of the most sought after items. Students are now using the internet to do distance learning, health and entertainment industry uses the internet to extend services to people. We, therefore, decided to introduce data bundles that don’t expire,”

Said Kapur – The Airtel Uganda Chief Commercial Officer

Available Airtel Chillax Bundles

How you buy and load Airtel Chillax Bundles

Unlike MTN’s Freedom bundles, Airtel Chillax bundles have no limitation on how a customer can buy and load the data bundles. Bundles can be loaded through the Airtel Uganda *175# data bundles shortcode or using the myAirtel App where a customer can choose to pay with airtime or airtel money. However, the easier way to load the new data bundles is through shortcodes and here is how you can buy an airtel chillax data bundle that never expires.

• Dial *175#
• Then select option 7 (Airtel Chillax Bundles)
• On the list of bundles, choose your preferred package
• Once selected, choose airtime or airtel money as your payment method
• If airtime, your balance will be deducted, and if airtel money, you will be prompted to enter your PIN
• DONE: Your Airtel Chillax Bundle will be instantly loaded and only expires when you hit the 100% usage cap

This rise in mobile money usage has now forced providers to avail more on-demand services that customers can access through any of the designated shortcodes. Airtel Wewole in particular is a money lending service that allows the red telco’s customers to borrow money and payback after 30days at a 9% interest rate.

The service is similar to MTN Uganda’s Mokash service which allows customers to save and borrow money, then pay back later at a 9% interest rate that increases in case a customer delays to pay back in time. But unlike Mokash, with Airtel Wewole customers can’t save or keep money in a dedicated wallet.

So, as Wewole translates to “Borrow” in a Ugandan local language tense (Luganda), the service only gives customers the power to borrow money and pay back later after 28 days. By standard, the service does not require any paperwork or initial savings balance for a customer to apply for a loan.

Instead, Wewole relies on a customer’s Airtel Money usage statistics to suggest the best loan limit possible. If a customer uses Airtel Money to send and receive money, transact online with virtual master cards or pay utility bills like UMEME Yaka, Water, and PayTV, it’s the more his/her Airtel Wewole loan limit will increase to new highs with a constant interest rate per approved loan.

How to borrow money using Airtel Money Wewole

In presence of the My Airtel App, the only way you can borrow cash with Airtel Wewole is through the telco’s dedicated *185# shortcode on your phone’s dial pad. Once dialled, you will then be able to select Wewole as a standalone service, and here is how you will actually apply for an instant loan.

1. Dial *185#
2. Then, Select Option 8 (Wewole)
3. Now, choose option 1 (Get a loan) to apply for an instant loan 
4. You will be presented with your current loan limit
5. Enter the amount of money you wish to borrow
6. Then, enter your Airtel account PIN
7. DONE: once Airtel approves your loan amount, money will be deposited on your Airtel Account.

How to payback an Airtel Wewole Loan

Once you receive an Airtel Wewole loan, you are required to repay back the full amount with full interest fees in a period of 28days. In case you delay in repaying the loan, Airtel may hike the payable interest fees until you clear the owed loan amount to Zero balance. However, no amount will be deducted from your Airtel Money account without your approval until you redial *185# to access the Wewole menu.

1. To pay an Airtel Wewole loan, Dial *185#
2. Then select option 8 (Wewole)
3. On the submenu, select Pay loan (Option 2)
4. Then choose between paying the full pending amount, or enter an amount to deduct from your account
5. DONE: Enter Your Airtel Money PIN to approve your loan re-payment.

The Airtel Uganda and Multichoice partnership to avail DSTV Now streaming bundles to subscribers serves as an additive to the already competitive mobile TV streaming landscape which hosts Apps like Airtel TV, YOTV Channels, and of recent the Afro Mobile App.

During the launch of DSTV Now bundles for Airtel Uganda customers, the Multichoice Uganda marketing manager Collin Asiimwe noted that Multichoice is excited to yet again unveil a thrilling partnership that will further improve customer viewing experiences by enabling them to enjoy live streaming on the DSTV Now application and catch up on premium movies, series and sports conveniently.

In agreement with his remarks, the Airtel Uganda head of data and devices inked that the newly introduced internet bundles are tailored for streaming live programs on the DSTV Now mobile app, and can’t be used for normal internet browsing. To use other internet services, a user must have a separate Airtel internet bundle which can be a Freaky Friday offer, or, a normal daily, weekly, monthly data bundle.

How to Buy DSTV Now Bundles on Airtel

Depending on your streaming preferences, the new Airtel DSTV Now streaming bundles are available in 3 tiers, a daily, weekly, and monthly plan. To activate a bundle, you can either dial *175*2*6# then select option 6 (DSTV Now bundles) and pay using Airtime or Airtel Money to instantly load your streaming bundle that expires based on its timeframe.

• To activate, dial *175*2*6#, then select option 6 (DSTV Now)
• Available Bundles include:

However, as a prerequisite, to use the DSTV Now App, you must be an active DSTV Subscriber with an active package that could be a premium, compact, or family bouquet. Other than that, you may not be able to use the App nor will the DSTV Now bundles be of any use without an active DSTV subscription on your account.

However, Unlimited Internet in Uganda has always been limited with daily and monthly caps in the past, but this has come to change with the emergence of fresh mobile network operators like Lyca mobile that jetted-in with soothing data bundles to its offers catalog.

More so, with the growing internet service provider market which will very soon have satellite providers like Starlink offering broadband services in Uganda, leading operators like MTN, Airtel, Smile, Africell, have now considered a norm of having unlimited Internet capped by speed, and price determined by the maximum Mbps.

By this, when you buy you buy a starter unlimited bundle, your internet connection slows down when you hit the set cap which could be 50GB, 100GB, or 200GB depending on the provider. On the other hand, when you buy speed-based true unlimited pack, your internet connection is only throttled by the traffic you access in Mbps, and so, the higher your preferred speeds, the higher the cost of your unlimited internet bundles.

Occasionally, most true unlimited Internet bundles in Uganda start from 1Mbps or 2Mbps for starters, and progress to as high as 10Mbps or 20Mbps depending on the operator’s terms of usage. By the same path, broadband internet providers also trail in the same mode with prices based on the dedicated connection speeds. Nonetheless, here is what mobile network operators (MNOs) offer in Uganda.

Monthly Unlimited Internet in Uganda by provider

The Best Unlimited Internet provider you should consider in Uganda

As per the monthly, weekly, and daily offers of all mobile operators in Uganda. Smile Communications rocks as the leading unlimited internet provider with multiple offers available to subscribers. For instance, with the telco’s daily unlimited internet package of UGX 15,000, you get speeds of up to 10Mbps capped at 4GB and free unlimited internet from midnight to 6 am.

Henceforth, with all mobile operators limiting their unlimited internet bundles by data volume, you can rely on Liquid Telecom as a provider with multiple choices to choose from. Henceforth, the next time you feel like loading a mobile unlimited internet bundle in Uganda, you now know what internet service providers offer on a monthly, weekly, or daily timeframe.