I stuck with Safaricom on my way to Kampala and in Kampala to watch Harambee Stars play Uganda Cranes, but i was disappointed with the so called roaming service. Roaming is the service that enables a mobile phone customer, while outside the geographical coverage area of their home network, to access the portfolio of services they subscribe to while at home. The suite of services that can be accessed include voice, SMS and Data services according to Safaricom.
Start with the data, while Safaricom is lightening fast in Kenya, their partner through which the roaming works MTN Uganda is a complete crap. Using MTN line from what i gathered is not that bad but i don’t understand why it does not translate that when working with Safaricom line. Simple Tweeting or Checking emails in Kampala was way too painful due to erratic connection. Too slow sometime, and then the charges. Waaaaaw too high.And i am not talking about Uganda shilling here, it is in KES. And Safaricom is not very clear on how much one is charged…jungle rules
How much will I be charged?
- For Voice Calls, you will be charged based on the destination called & duration of call. Voice calls are charged on a per minute basis.
- Please note that you are charged for receiving calls while roaming, based on your roaming destination.
- For Data services/access to the internet, you will be charged based on volume of data transacted.
- For text messages (SMS), you will be charged based on the destination you send your SMS to
Voice, again the network is erratic, at some point in Kampala i could not call anybody or be called. No network , no nothing. Complete darkness, thank God Ugandans are very good people and I was able to find my way around.
SMS- probably was the only thing working constantly, while calls ware not going through SMS service was ok. But I realized that very late during the darkness hours.