Safeguarding Uganda's Digital Autonomy in a Low Earth Orbit Future

Low earth orbit (LEO) satellite Internet services are a hot topic in Uganda’s tech community, with services like Starlink frequently trending in online conversations as the government deliberates on whether to allow them in our market and under what conditions. 

The appeal of LEOs is clear: global coverage, fast deployment, and the promise of high-speed connectivity in even the most remote corners of the world. LEO operators such as Starlink, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, and SpaceSail represent a transformative shift in global telecommunications. They offer undeniable potential in markets where terrestrial infrastructure is limited or completely absent. However, in developing markets like Uganda, where the sector is evolving rapidly, we feel that it’s important to approach these developments with caution.

Uganda’s market has developed rapidly over the past 15 years. Wholesale bandwidth pricing has dropped from $4,000 to $1.50 per megabit. We now have multiple cross-border fibre backbones and good metro fibre coverage in most urban areas – with wireless and mobile networks extending beyond that. While there are still challenges, particularly around affordability due to taxes (which make up approximately 60% of the retail price), accessibility, and quality of service, the situation is improving rapidly, and the foundation for sustainable local growth and digital autonomy is in place.



The challenge with LEO services is that they bypass the terrestrial infrastructure that local operators and governments have spent years building. They send local Internet traffic into the sky, circumventing our fibre networks, Internet exchange points, and data centers. If these services were to gain significant traction, it could discourage future investment in domestic infrastructure, undermine the sustainability of local ISPs who employ Ugandans in large numbers, and create a significant digital dependency. Uganda would have
little leverage if such providers were to suddenly change their terms of service, restrict access, or raise prices, especially in a scenario where local alternatives have eroded.

A particular point of concern is the possibility that LEO services might not deploy a local IP node or ground station within Uganda. If user traffic is routed through the sky to neighbouring countries, or even further afield, it would encourage networks to host content and interconnect in those locations instead of Uganda. This would directly threaten Uganda’s emerging role as a regional network interconnection hub just as we are beginning to see momentum.

It is worth noting that Uganda offers some important potential advantages for LEO operators looking to establish ground stations. Our central geographic location within the East African Internet ecosystem positions us to deliver the lowest average latency to neighboring countries' networks. This makes Uganda a strategic choice not only for national connectivity but also as an inland regional hub for LEO infrastructure.

In summary, we’re not opposed to LEO satellite systems and believe they can play an important role, especially in under-served areas – but if they are to operate in Uganda, we feel that it is essential to ensure that their integration is done in a way that supports, rather than undermines, our local ecosystem by requiring them to:

• Deploy a local IP node and/or ground station and route local user traffic via Uganda;
• Only provide service to users in rural areas;
  
• Register a local operating company, or partner with one, and pay taxes accordingly;
• Comply with all other relevant national regulations, just like any other operator.
  
  

These measures would go a long way in ensuring a level playing field and ensuring that the economic and technical benefits of LEOs are shared more equitably. However, even these conditions may not fully mitigate the risks, and policymakers should proceed with a clear understanding of the potential long-term impacts.

LEO satellite services hold exciting potential, but without thoughtful integration, they risk undermining investment in terrestrial infrastructure – the metro networks, fibre backbones, data centers, and exchange points that form the foundation of Uganda’s digital economy. This infrastructure is not just about connectivity; it is the key to our national autonomy and influence in the global digital landscape.

By establishing clear rules for LEO operators, Uganda can embrace this promising innovation while safeguarding critical investment, protecting skilled jobs, and promoting long-term growth.

Endowment Established, Netflix Connected, Akamai Revived, New Services Launched

Message from the Executive Director

2024 was an important year for the UIXP as we took significant steps to secure our long-term sustainability and enhance our service offerings.

We recently achieved a major milestone with the launch of an endowment fund that utilises conservative interest-bearing investments to generate income. This is a key part of our long-term strategy to secure the UIXP’s future; to reduce our service pricing; and to ensure that the UIXP can remain relevant amid looming competition from international players which can offer subsidised services.

We also expanded our service offerings, deploying a Netflix cache with donated cache-fill from Lyca Mobile, and restoring Akamai's cache to service using bandwidth contributions from RENU. In addition, we recently launched a locally hosted Jitsi video conferencing service and an AI social media bot to help improve our online presence. In the background, our infrastructure remains stable and we’ve made a variety of improvements to both physical and digital security.

Despite this progress, the year was not without challenges. Google's worldwide withdrawal from remote peering sessions impacted our ecosystem, while local market conditions such as high taxes and the lingering Facebook ban continue to suppress growth.

Looking ahead, we aim to grow the endowment fund, implement a new ERP with a self-service portal, expand our portfolio of locally hosted services, and continue our involvement in regional Internet communities and initiatives.

I encourage everyone to read the full report below for more details. As always, we are grateful for everyone's support and look forward to working together for the good of the Internet in 2025!

Kyle Spencer,
Executive Director

Endowment Fund Launched

We are proud to announce that we have launched an endowment fund in order to promote the UIXP’s long-term sustainability and reduce its dependence on traditional service fees.

The endowment is based on conservative interest-bearing investments which, starting this year, will cover 25% of the UIXP's annual non-salary operating expenses. The initial installment was made possible by years of savings, conservative financial management, and multi-year prepayments from some of our larger peers, including Meta.

We aim to grow this fund over time with the hope that it will eventually cover 100% of our total annual expenses. This would allow us to offer free or near-free services which would both facilitate the growth of Uganda’s digital economy and help the UIXP stay relevant in the future as our region faces increasing competition from international IXPs that can offer subsidised services.

 

Free Ports & Raxio Discounts

We would like to remind everyone that we offer free 100 Mbps ports at Raxio with no cross-connect charges. We also offer a 6-month 25% discount on all new services at Raxio so, if you would like to connect, upgrade your port, or learn more, please contact us.

 

New Value Added Services 

• Encrypted Video Conferencing: We recently launched a free web-based open-source video conferencing system which offers features similar to Zoom and Google Meet. All user traffic is encrypted and routed via the UIXP which helps to protect users from mass surveillance. We encourage everyone to give it a try and send us feedback: https://kafunda.uixp.co.ug

• AI Marketing Bot: We recently introduced an AI marketing bot that posts occasional promotional updates on Twitter/X. This complements our manual posts and helps to ensure more consistent engagement with our community and the public.

 

Peering Updates 

• 
  Summary: We began and ended 2024 with 32 connected networks and approximately 40Gbps of peak traffic. There was some churn during this period with some networks disconnecting and others connecting. There was also a mid-year traffic depression following the disconnection of Google’s remote peering session with a subsequent boost in traffic in November caused by the restoration of the Akamai cache (see below for more details).
  

• Raxio: We now have six networks connected at the Raxio carrier neutral data center with another connecting soon. As a reminder, we offer free 100M ports and significant discounts on new services at this facility so please contact us if you would like to connect or migrate your network.

• IPv6 Adoption: 33% of all networks (10 out of 30) are peering with our route servers via IPv6 though most traffic is still exchanged via IPv4. We encourage all networks to transition to IPv6 and we are happy to provide support where possible. Click here for a live list of networks peering via IPv6 in Uganda.

• New Peers: Netflix and Kampala Siti Cable [AS328727] connected to the UIXP in 2024, though the Netflix cache is connected to the UIXP via the UIXP’s ASN [AS328998].

• Netflix: We deployed a Netflix cache this year, made accessible to all connected networks through our route servers, with donated cache-fill from Lyca Mobile. However, this cache requires manual activation. To connect, networks must append their BGP announcements to the UIXP route servers with the community string 40027:4000. For more detailed instructions, read the documentation on our website or contact us via e-mail.

• Akamai: After a period of downtime, the Akamai cache was restored on an experimental basis using donated cache-fill from RENU. However, its output is currently limited by the amount of donated cache-fill bandwidth that is available as well as the capacity of the cache cluster hardware.
  
  Traffic from this cache is automatically served to connected networks via the UIXP route servers. However, Akamai’s systems automatically moderate traffic distribution based on a variety of factors (including cache capacity) which can influence whether or not your particular ASN gets traffic from this cache cluster.
  
  We are working with Akamai to upgrade the cache cluster hardware and expect this to occur in Q2 2025. However, in order for the upgraded cluster to increase its output, we will need more cache-fill bandwidth. If we are unable to get additional donated bandwidth, we may try to implement a cache-fill cost-sharing model.

• Google: Due to a global policy change, Google withdrew from all remote peering sessions around the world. This impacted the UIXP as Google was connected via a long-distance fibre link to their nearest PoP in Mombasa. We believe this decision was largely driven by the cost and complexity of maintaining these links.
  
  We explored the possibility of either (a) inheriting the management and cost of the transport link to Mombasa in order to maintain Google’s remote peering session, or (b) replacing Google's remote peering session with a shared Google cache but, in this case, we would need to source cache-fill IPT. Both options were difficult logistically and/or financially. In either case, we would not be able to serve Google traffic for significantly less cost than our peers can already get it via wholesale IPT and, in the remote peering scenario, Google's traffic would still originate in Mombasa so there would be no latency benefit.
  

 

Facility Updates 

• Our switching infrastructure and data center facilities continue to operate reliably. We’ve also strengthened physical and digital security to ensure a safer and more resilient service environment.

• As a reminder, we send technical alerts about significant events, planned maintenance, and unplanned outages to the UIXP Techies mailing list. If your network is peering but is not a member of this list, please contact us to get added.

Accounting & Tax Updates 

• In 2023 we experienced a number of account delinquencies, particularly from smaller networks, which we attributed to challenging market conditions. Throughout 2024 we worked with the affected networks to reduce these balances and are happy to report that almost all have returned to good standing. We sincerely appreciate everyone for honouring their commitments and will do our best to ensure that we can continue to be accommodating should similar challenges arise in the future.

• Our efforts to migrate to a new open-source accounting system were delayed and did not happen in 2024 as we had hoped. However, this remains on our agenda and we hope to undertake this project in 2024. Our goal is to streamline accounting and operational processes through increased automation while providing networks with a convenient self-service portal.

• We remain in good standing with URA and have not faced any significant compliance issues during the past year.

 

Market Challenges

• The 2021 Facebook ban continues to suppress overall utilisation of the Internet and our interconnection service. It continuously inflates the cost of Internet service delivery by forcing users and networks to import Facebook traffic from international sources rather than our local cache. This makes Uganda’s Internet more expensive and its market less attractive for regional interconnection & colocation relative to neighbouring countries.

• We remain concerned by the increasingly high taxes levied on Internet services which now account for over 50% of the total cost of Internet access in Uganda. Like the Facebook ban, this hinders demand and deters investment in Uganda’s digital economy.

 

Community Engagement

• UIXP staff continue to play both leading and supporting roles within the local and regional Internet community via the African IXP Association (AFIX), the Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF), and the African Network Operators Group (AfNOG).

• The UIXP remains a member of the ICT Association of Uganda (ICTAU) and Internet Service Provider Association of Uganda (ISPAU). We work with both organisations to promote market development and policies that are beneficial for our community.