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Is it true that most Ugandans are using more data bundles than voice calls?
For decades, airtime defined how Ugandans used their phones. Scratch cards, discounted voice bundles, and call minutes dominated the telecom industry. But the latest numbers show a dramatic shift: more Ugandans now prefer data to voice calls.
According to the Uganda Communications Commission’s (UCC) Quarter Two 2025 report, the country now has 16.5 million active mobile internet subscriptions and an estimated 17.6 million smartphones in circulation. The trend is clear — data, not voice, is driving mobile usage.
Internet Overtakes Voice Calls
This week, Airtel Uganda released its half-year financial results, confirming what the UCC figures already suggested. Data has overtaken voice calls as the backbone of telecom revenues. Airtel’s data revenue grew by 30.4% year-on-year to Shs 525.7 billion, accounting for nearly half of all service revenues.
The company also reported a 25.9% growth in its data subscriber base, reaching 7.5 million users. More importantly, existing subscribers are consuming more: average monthly usage climbed 22.6% to nearly 6GB per person, driving overall traffic up by 57.4% compared to last year.
“This reflects the growing preference for internet-based communication platforms over traditional calls,” Airtel noted in its statement. In other words, phone calling is losing ground to data-based apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Zoom.
Building Networks for an internet focused Future
To handle this surge, Airtel has invested heavily in infrastructure. In the first half of 2025 alone, the company added 176 new 4G sites, 150 new 5G sites, and over 1,793 kilometers of fiber. As a result, 86.9% of all traffic now runs on 4G, up from 80.4% a year earlier.
The picture is similar across the industry. MTN Uganda has reported strong growth in data traffic and fintech services, while smaller operators are also shifting their focus toward internet-driven products.
How Uganda Got Here
Uganda’s relationship with the internet began in the early 1990s. Makerere University connected to the global network in 1993, with commercial dial-up services following in 1994–95. For years, internet access was slow, expensive, and limited to institutions.
The arrival of mobile telephony in the 2000s brought affordable communication to millions, but the focus remained on calls and SMS. Internet on phones was basic — slow GPRS connections were costly and unreliable.
By the mid-2010s, the story began to change. Affordable smartphones entered the market, 3G and 4G networks spread nationwide, and mobile money platforms like MTN MoMo and Airtel Money tied daily transactions to digital ecosystems. Still, many Ugandans viewed internet as optional. That reality has now vanished.
Why Ugandans Can No Longer Do Without internet bundles
Several factors explain the rapid dominance of data:
- Messaging apps: WhatsApp, Messenger, and Telegram have replaced SMS and are even eating into voice calls through internet-based voice and video.
- Entertainment: TikTok, YouTube, and streaming services dominate daily phone use, with video consuming nearly half of all data, according to UCC.
- Fintech growth: Mobile money and digital payments now depend on internet platforms, locking millions into daily data use.
- Education and work: E-learning, remote work, and government e-services expanded sharply after the COVID-19 pandemic and remain central today.
- Affordable bundles: Hourly, daily, and weekly bundles make internet accessible even to low-income users.
The result is a country where a smartphone without internet feels almost useless. As one analyst put it: “A decade ago, you could still enjoy a phone without data. In 2025, a phone without internet is just a torch and calculator.”
What This Shift Means
The shift from voice to data is not just a telecom story — it is a social transformation. Families communicate more in WhatsApp groups than on traditional calls. Businesses reach customers through Facebook pages, not just word of mouth. Musicians and creators now launch careers on TikTok and YouTube instead of radio alone.
For telecom operators, the future is clear: survival depends on growing data services, expanding 4G and 5G, and integrating fintech into everyday use. For policymakers, digital inclusion and pricing will determine whether the benefits of this shift reach every corner of the country.
The Verdict
The latest figures confirm it: internet has overtaken voice calls in Uganda. From the first dial-up connection in 1993 to today’s data-driven economy, the country has come a long way. Ugandans are not just spending more on data than calls — they are building a digital lifestyle around it.
In 2025, to own a phone in Uganda is to own a gateway to the internet. And increasingly, the question is not how many minutes you have left, but how many megabytes.
