As the number of antenna towers dotting Uganda’s landscape increases, the government is working on regulations to encourage infrastructure sharing among the network operators. A major problem is the lack of access to the electricity grid in many rural areas. The network operators depend on diesel generator power for more than 40% of their sites, which can add operational costs of up to US$200,000 per year per site. As a result, MTN, Zain, UTL and Warid formed a consortium in 2009 to share costs of connecting their sites to the grid.
ATC Uganda, a joint venture between MTN and American Tower Corporation (ATC) took over MTN’s towers in Uganda in December 2011.
