Senior government officials, heads of regulatory authorities, and mobile network operators (MNOs) of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIPs) ICT Infrastructure Development Cluster convened in Kampala from February 29th to March 1st, 2024, chaired by Dr. Aminah Zawedde, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of ICT & National Guidance, Uganda, and Chair of the ICT Cluster.
The meeting was a follow-up to the November 2023 Nairobi ICT Ministerial directive for ICT stakeholders to jointly update the status of implementation of the One Network Area (ONA) in NCIPs Partner States and resolve complaints of non-compliance with the ONA framework. The ONA is a multi-country initiative aimed at creating a harmonized enabling environment for the international mobile roaming market with the objective of enhancing affordable access to roaming services for both voice and data.
Participants were cognizant of the emerging challenges related to the ONA, such as permanent roamers and increasing traffic, and the meeting agreed on mitigating actions and addressing emerging issues. These include a review of the ONA framework and ONA under the East African Community (EAC), development of a Fair Usage Policy, and establishment of dispute resolution and escalation mechanisms.
It was encouraging to note that during the two-day meeting, all partner states were complying with the guiding principles of the ONA framework as directed by the 14th Summit of Heads of State in Nairobi.
