Uganda’s telecom landscape is shifting fast, with internet bundles now outpacing voice calls as the main source of revenue. Airtel Uganda’s half-year results to June 30, 2025, reveal that data revenues surged 30.4% and now account for nearly half of the company’s service income—ending voice’s long dominance.
The company’s customer base is driving the change. Data subscribers grew by 25.9% to 7.5 million, while average monthly usage climbed 22.6% to almost 6GB per user. Overall traffic on Airtel’s network jumped 57.4% in just six months.
To handle the surge, Airtel expanded aggressively, rolling out 176 new 4G sites, 150 5G sites, and close to 1,800 kilometers of fibre. Smartphone penetration on its network now stands at 39.9%, supported by device financing schemes that are making handsets more affordable.
The Uganda Communications Commission confirms the trend, noting that mobile internet subscriptions are fast catching up with smartphone ownership.
For millions of Ugandans, the internet has become the new “airtime”—a sign that the country’s telecom future is firmly data-first.
