FOCUS: Is your mobile keeping you in the dark?

MTN has been letting us down. At first, many thought it would only be for few weeks. Wrong. It has lingered on and the solution appears to be a receding mirage. MTN was recently fined by the RURA for failing to meet honour the contract that they signed before they were granted the license to operate. Under its licence, MTN Rwanda was to construct, maintain and operate a 900, 1,800 and 1,900MHz, GSM telecommunication network within the geographic territory of Rwanda. After receiving numerous complaints, regulators in Rwanda have found that the provisions of these requirements were not being met, calling for a penalty against the telecom operator. The fine of Frw5 million francs has been issed. Joan Umurerwa, a businesswoman in Kigali, says it was good news for customers. “MTN had become adamant and many customers were suffering.” She says it is good for MTN to be fined because this is the only way it knows its responsibilities. A source from MTN office who spoke on condition of anonymity said on Friday that MTN was working hard to get to the root cause of the matter. “Unreliable network has cut me off from my business partners. It is so unreliable especially when it rains,” Umurerwa adds. Umurerwa accuses MTN of being highly irresponsible. “They do things with impunity because they don’t have serious competitor.” She says it is high time people in communication field like WARID in Uganda visited Rwanda to compete with MTN. In the absence of a competitor, things go bad. The network should constantly be upgraded as MTN strive to connect the entire country in the shortest ever time. John Muhire, a businessman echoes Umurerwa’s sentiments. “What we need is an investor who will out compete MTN.” “We are living in a competitive world. We coordinate our businesses on phones and MTN should style up,” appeals another businessman who declined to be named. MTN has not only disrupted work relations but has also played a hand in splitting up families. “I was used to talking to my husband every night after work but the net work doesn’t permit that any more,” says Penelope Kankwanzi says, a mother of three. Many women Sunday Times talked to raised the same concern. They need to keep in touch with their husbands or children at school. It was happening even before RURA stepped in. Many customers were complaining about it but MTN Company turned deaf ear! lilianean@yahoo.com