THE END OF TELECOMMUNICATION BOOM

20 years back, it was ultimate luxury for anyone to own a 1kg thick brick like item called a mobile phone or even just owning a phone in one’s office. Well, times have changed and even a peasant in the middle of Kabong district can own one, not just to make calls with it but do cash transactions as well. But what most phone users have forgotten is how expensive their life has become with those little pocket size toys dancing in their clothes or bags. No wonder airtime has become a basic necessity in any homestead ( I don’t remember this being one of the basic necessities of life - #primary school), costing a huge percentage of any average family budget so to speak.

What they don’t realise is that for every call they make, they are paying at least a good fraction of airtime charges into the pockets of some already wealthy money hungry potbelly you have no idea about. To many, 10shs is not bad for every 100shs you pay per minute. Besides You don’t even see the money being taken from your pockets What they don’t realise is 10shs from 10million subscribers is 10million shillings for the rich telecommunication moguls in a sec. And yet some of them (companies) still have the audacity to steal money from unsuspecting customers without their knowledge.

 So the poor peasant in the middle of Kabong struggles to get 500shs worth airtime and “pays the telecom company money so as to talk to someone”. Stop and think again… You are paying to talk to someone? Well, the notion may not come obvious to one for now. A common African proverb says; “ you can deny one food at your home but you cannot deny one word” Which literally means, it’s understandable that food can be denied to someone because one has to toil to get it but you cannot deny someone talk or information. And yet our telecommunication companies tend to gutfully evade taxes even when they get billions in profits from charging people to talk to each other. Not to speak of the undocumented theft of money from the airtime of innocent genuine subscribers.   http://investigator.co.ug/details.php?option=acat&a=224

                That  not being enough; they even charge people money to exchange information (Internet). That I should pay a telecommunication company money so as to be able to share my photos with a dear one outside countries is a redicilous idea even yet. That I have to pay so as to share information I have with someone over the net still sounds uncouth yet. One may argue that telecommunications have simplified communication in general; true; but on personal opinion I think it is time the lucrative business of cheating and theft comes to an end. All it takes is for one bold government to stand up for its people and offer free telecommunication services to its people so they won’t have to pay to talk to each other or share information. What the people would have to pay for would be the hardware (handset) to gain access to the free service and their taxes sufficient to ensure smooth running of the services like any other (health, education, security,etc) of course leaving room for those who feel they have the money to afford private telecommunication services. BOOM; telecommunication business comes to an end. "FREEDOM TO TALK, FREEDOM TO SHARE ".

# Dr. Okra (freelance thinker and writer )