Universal access in Uganda
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The fact that technologies have become more advanced, diverse, and integrated has
compelled policymakers to adopt broader and fluid criteria for services that could be
brought under the rubric of universal service. As Sawhney (1995) observes, developing
universal service policies was a generally straightforward matter when telephony was
simply voice grade. However, with the proliferation of services, it became practically
impossible to build a consensus about what “a ‘bare essential’ package” should comprise
(Sawhney, 1995, p. 205).
What definitely is not in dispute is the need to expand the definition of universal
service to include advanced services and access not just to communication networks but
to information services as well. Attempts to redefine universal service have therefore
been a major preoccupation of scholars and policymakers. But in keeping with
Sawhney’s (1995, p. 206) view, such definitions have tended to be “arbitrary in nature,
because they are not based on any theoretical rationale for including some services and
excluding others.”
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To deal with such arbitrariness, Mustafa, Laidlaw, and Brand (1997, p.31) have
argued that the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa need “to review what, if any, version of
the universal service objective is feasible.” The objectives of universal service have
traditionally been to provide access to the national telephone network to all current and
potential users; and to provide service on standard and affordable terms and conditions.
A combination of factors in industrialized countries has made it possible to meet
these objectives and to satisfy basic demand for telephone service. For example, by
cutting down on capital and operating costs, new technologies dramatically improved the
performance of the telecommunications sector. The increasing demand and more efficient
Convention