By Hanning Mbabazi
Kampala: Africell Uganda customers won’t have to wander around in search for airtime and data top up points anymore.
This is because Africell Uganda on August 6, 2019 inked an agreement with MTN Uganda to grant their mobile money agents ability to load airtime and data bundles on Africell numbers.
According to the two companies, the partnership has been in the pipeline since the removal of scratch cards mid last year and the continuous engagement has yielded results.
The chief executive officer (CEO) Africell, Ziad Daoud said
“The discussions about this partnership were not easy, started but I am glad we finally got to agree on working together for the good of our customers and the industry at large.
“Dear customers, as part of our continuous efforts to serve you better and bring you services closer, we have introduced yet another recharge option. Now under the assisted payment service, you can buy Africell airtime and data bundles at any MTN mobile money agent country wide,” he said.
The new service, dubbed “Assisted Payments”, will allow all Africell subscribers the ability to buy airtime of any amount, data bundles including the SWIFT and 4G bundles for their phones with the help of MTN mobile money agents. The transaction is expected to take place in real time and without delay.
The MTN mobile money top-up option is an addition to other available alternatives for Africell subscribers such as airtime purchase from ATM interface, PayWay, Eazy Money, among others.
To make the announcement clear and elaborate, Africell Uganda noted that the Africell Money service is distinct from the partnership. The company believes that more services beyond airtime and data top-up can be added to the deal.
The MTN-Africell partnership is an addition to the Telco mergers that have been witnessed in the industry.
The chief executive officer (CEO) of MTN Uganda, Wim Vanhelleputte said Uganda communications commission (UCC) and Bank of Uganda (BOU) are promoting interoperability and infrastructure sharing among others, “We have brought all this together today through the Assisted Payments initiative.” He added
Mid last year, Airtel Uganda merged with the then struggling K2 Telecom to enable subscribers enjoy all the services offered by the Airtel network.
It is an industry practice for telecom companies to share resources such as sites and operations, and the Uganda Communications Commission recently directed that operators optimize infrastructure for the best service.
