Uganda Communications Commission says its Rural Communications Development Fund (RCDF) programme, now in its fifth year, has set up 98 internet cafes and installed computers in all districts in a bid to spread information and communication technology to rural areas.

The Executive Director, Patrick Masambu, says UCC has also set up 98 ICT training centres, supplied 106 schools with computer labs and 43 health centres with computers. About 3,000 public pay phones had also been installed in the under-served rural districts under the same programme.
RCDF is mainly funded by telecom companies with each contributing 1% of their annual gross revenue to the fund.

The latest figures from the UCC show that telecom companies paid Shs 5billion last financial year, with MTN contributing Shs 3.2billion. Masambu, who was meeting Local Government leaders in a review of the RCDF achievements at Imperial Royale Hotel Monday, revealed that UCC was evaluating the impact of the RCDF.

However, he reported that the move had translated into a dramatic upsurge in telephony and internet usage across the country. More schools are now teaching computer studies, a subject now being examined by UNEB, starting this academic year.  

UCC figures show that since RCDF started in 2003, the number of fixed lines users has jumped from 65,000 to 200,000; while mobile telephone users have grown from 410,000 to nearly 9.8million lines. Internet/email subscribers have increased from 6,500 to 18,000, as well as the attendant job creation.

The RCDF has been running a 5-year policy aimed at universal access of services of communication services in rural and under severed areas. With the expiry of this first policy, the UCC is in the final stages of unveiling a new policy (2009-2014) expected to focus on internet connectivity and content development across the country.

To this end, UCC has secured a grant of US$7million to support ICT in schools and health centres across the country. “We plan to ensure each hospital or health centre is supplied with seven dedicated computers purely to ensure constant communication,” Masambu said.

http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5634:rural-fund-a-success-says-ucc-&catid=38:business&Itemid=68

The Current Chairperson for RCDF is Commissioner Dr. Dorothy Okello.

Written by Moses Talemwa The Observer Newspaper