Africell Uganda is one of Uganda’s top 3 telecom companies, known for its fast internet bundles.
This telecom company started off as Orange, and later rebranded to Africell. The brand has tremendously grown and introduced unique products on the market, which many of its competitors don’t have.
Today, we are sharing particularly 5 unique things that Africell Uganda has on the telecom market in Uganda. Some of these, you might have enjoyed them already if you are an Africell user. If you are not an Africell user yet, well, the choice will remain up to you.
NOTE: This is not a sponsored post.
Contents
1. Bonus minutes reward for calling other networks
Every time you call other networks while using Africell airtime, you are awarded bonus minute bundles to call an Africell user. Here is how it works:
For each minute (or less) that you use to call other networks with your Africell airtime, you are awarded a bonus minute (60 seconds) to make an Africell to Africell call.
So this implies that the more you call other networks with your Africell, the more minutes you are awarded to keep in touch with your Africell to Africell people. One might call it a tactic to keep you in the Africell eco-system, but it can come in handy if you have a number of Africell people in your contact list, Ssikyo?
Africell charges UGX 3.8 seconds per second for calls on other networks. I guess that’s the cost of getting an extra 60 seconds to call your Africell people.
2. Subsidized data bundle packages
Africell later last year repackaged its data bundles and gave us all a wide smile when it cut prices while giving more data bundles. (More for less is what they call it).
This is a contributing factor to why Africell Uganda is unique, but there’s more to it.
Africell Uganda has particularly stuck to two (2) of what I can speculate to be its most used Data Bundles.
The first being Social Bundles, or what others may call WTF bundles. As an online blogger, I found these bundles very restrictive to the online space, and I personally don’t use them. I actually shared my reasons why in a Blog I dubbed “Social Bundles should go Back to the Grave“, a conversation we can keep going for later.
I have been disproved, being that many Ugandans still embark on these Social Bundles, and Africell Uganda chose to stuck with them even after the OTT Tax was introduced. No other Internet Service Provider among the 3 giants is still offering the Social Media bundles.
This is one of those products which has made Africell Uganda unique, being that many Ugandans usually prefer social media ONLY bundles (since they are a bit cheaper), as compared to the normal bundles which are a bit expensive.
The second bundle is the “Don’t Be Cheated“.
Africell Uganda’s Don’t Be Cheated falls in the bracket of MTN’s Gaga Wednesdays and Airtel’s Freaky Friday.
All these 3 competing bundles come with their benefits and on other days, their disappointments.
There could be a whole debate on which of the 3 offers by the 3 giant telcos is best, however, there are some wins Africell Uganda has registered in my opinion. What’s yours?
3. Unlimited call bundles for as low as UGX 1250
There’s a whole lot of interesting packages for Africell to Africell users. While other networks are offering scanty call bu-bundles, Africell Uganda is going all out with their unlimited call bundles.
For as low as UGX 1250, Africell offers unlimited call time between Africell to Africell users for 24 hours. But that’s not it.
For 7 days, you can get unlimited Africell call time for only UGX 7,000. If you want to go all wild with more call time with your Africell people, you can procure more 30 days of unlimited Africell to Africell call time at only UGX 15,000.
Here’s how to subscribe to these 3 killer unlimited bundles I found unique about Africell Uganda, mostly for its loyal users.
How to buy unlimited calls on Africell
- Dial *134#
- Select option 3
The choice is yours, but don’t forget, they are only for Africell to Africell calls.
4. Data bundles that never expires on recharge
I tried to find a better subheading to explain this and this is the best I could come up with.
On Africell Uganda, each time you buy a monthly data bundle, you can prevent it from expiring at the end of the month.
Here is how it works:
- Let’s say I load 20GB for UGX 50,000
- When the month comes to an end, and I have a remaining 5GB (of the 20GB), I can retain this 5GB for the next month.
- All I have to do is recharge another Monthly bundle during that week after the bundle expires.
What Africell Uganda does for me is to reload my new monthly data bundle which I have bought plus the remaining 5GB. This way, I’m able to start the month with more data, by retaining the remaining bundle of the previous month through a recharge of a new monthly bundle.
In technical terms, you can call it carrying forward your unused data. I have done this for my monthly bundles. I don’t know whether it works for weekly bundles, but for Monthly bundles, I can attest.
Incase you didn’t know, now you know. That’s how you carry forward your unused Africell data bundles.
I don’t know if other telecom companies in Uganda have this. Do you know of any which does? Please share with us.
5. Automatic Airtime credits with Weetase
Africell Uganda, just like many networks in Uganda offers airtime credit. This is under Africell’s Wetaase service.
What is airtime credit? This is a borrowing service for phone users who may run out of airtime and need to borrow. Is that unique?, you might ask. Here is how.
Rather than having to borrow through dialing (this option Africell actually has), for Africell Uganda, your account is automatically credited with Airtime. This borrowed airtime, however, has a limit based on your loyalty and usage of the network.
Some people, like me, actually enjoy this service because I don’t have to dial *161# and borrow. All I do is spend and use borrowed airtime until my credit limit is reached.
I have found other people who are cautious about this way of airtime borrowing because you might overshoot and use a large amount of borrowed airtime. (Which must be paid either way)
Here is what you can do to cancel this service on Africell
How to Cancel Automatic Wetaase on Africell Uganda
- Dial *161#
- Select Option 2 (Stop Weetase Nyoo)
If you reconsider using the service, follow the same steps, but on the next interface, Select Option 1 (Register)
One thing I have found a little disturbing about this service is the 10% fee you are charged for any amount of airtime borrowed. But hey, anything with value comes with a cost.
You can read more about how this service works here.
Conclusion
Africell Uganda is one of Uganda’s most used telcos, and it is mostly liked for its swift Internet. With all these unique products and services, this is Africell’s way of penetrating the market.
I have enjoyed some of these products, and others, friends have shared how they have enjoyed them too. Other telcos like MTN Uganda and Airtel have offered interestingly uniquely competitive products, which have been praised by many.
However, the fun doesn’t stop here. Every day, each telco is cooking up something unique. These are Africell’s four (5) that we found unique. The choice remains to you the user, have you found these products unique for Africell Uganda, or you think its other competitors are doing better?