Uganda telecom and Alcatel-Lucent have signed a 20 million Euro contract for the expansion of its global system for mobile network.

The agreement also includes supply and maintenance of the wireless network based on 3G technology.

"This will be the first Third Generation (3G) network in East Africa and Uganda telecom will enhance its service offerings with higher quality mobile, voice and high speed broadband data services," said a statement issued by Alcatel-Lucent on Thursday.

The services would include video streaming, access to corporate e-mail and intranets among others.

"The deployment of the first 3G network in Uganda will enable us enhance our network coverage in terms of capacity and service quality because the useful new services will be offered throughout the country," said the company's managing director Abdulbaset Elazzabi.

The statement said Uganda telecom customers will now be able to use their phones for more than just calling and receiving calls.

Mobile phones will now become a more functional resource as customers will be able to send and receive corporate mails, watch television, make video calls, send multimedia messaging, carry out e-banking by having their bank accounts debited through the phone and receive a balance statement at the same time.

3G also allows customers to catch up with friends by using the SeekYourFriends service to find out who is on-line and then sends a message telling his friends where to meet them.

Customers can download their favourite music from a web store or can play online games with their friends. 3G also allows for more efficient security systems as the network brings in views from a home camera and even sounds the alarm in case of a burglary.

"The network will be deployed for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Uganda in November," said the statement.

The improved robust network will be able to adapt quickly and efficiently to the growth in traffic and services and therefore make Uganda telecom's network more reliable and less prone to failure.

Highway Africa News Agency