Following a series of discussions on various mailing lists in and especially on the I-Network ICT Mailing list for the past 2 to 3 years in regard to ICT services and products in the country of Uganda, a few individuals decided to explore the idea of bringing together grieving ICT consumers. The association recognises the existing institutions and channels of dealing with consumer concerns and aims to provide complementary and value added services to these institutions for ICT consumers and the development of the ICT sector in Uganda.

From Internet services to voice services and all the way to hardware products, the situation is running out of control and the few bodies like the Uganda Communications Commission and the Uganda National Bureau of Standards seem to be overwhelmed by their wide mandates, limited budgets and lack of enough human resources therefore protection of consumers is not high on their priorities.

The association is membership based and membership is open to all ICT consumers and stakeholders. The association aims at achieving the following:

1.      Providing a collective platform / voice through which ICT consumers concerns can be addressed, for example billing complaints

2.      Addressing poor quality of voice and data services

3.      Addressing ICT goods and services pricing irregularities that result in loss of money by consumers

4.      Evaluating performance of the universal service fund under the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC).

5.      Addressing the high failure rate of hardware, for example promotional mobile phones

As a start, the association has been duly registered and letters of introduction were sent out in February 2009 to various stakeholders informing them of the set up of the new association including Uganda Communications Commission, Ministry of ICT, Uganda National Bureau of Standards and Uganda Consumer Protection Association.