There are days when you need to get online, money is lost, and depleted the ‘Senkyu’ points or the free 20 MBs of the month. You have to send a message out however you are not able to. Probably, you are in the middle of nowhere—home. What can you do? Borrow data. MTN Uganda ‘MTN Xtra Time’ and Airtel Uganda cater to customers in that dilemma.
As long as you have an active account, these networks allow you to borrow data and pay later. You can only borrow again if you have paid the previous debt. Likewise, the next time you load airtime, the data debt is deducted instantly. Airtel may be a little patient to chop your airtime, but MTN is swift.
With both networks, the first-time borrowing is standard for every user. You get the same data pack. As you faithfully pay back, they gradually increase the amount you can borrow. Unlike the other services they provide, there are no payment deadlines.
Below are the procedures for both networks.
Procedures for borrowing data on MTN Uganda
- Dial *146#
- Choose option 3 (borrow data bundle).
- Once you select a preferred amount, your account is credited. MTN charges 10% of the value of the data bundle. If you borrow 100MB @ 1000 shillings, you pay 1100 shillings.
- You can then check the data balance by dialing *131#
Procedures for borrowing data on Airtel Uganda
- Dial *143*1#
- Select option 1 (data), then follow the prompts.
- Once you have chosen the data bundle, your account is credited. It comes with a service fee of 11% of the charge. For instance, if you borrow a bundle of 300MB @ 2000 shillings, the service fee is 220 shillings. So your debt is 2220 shillings.
- You could also use the ‘Beerako’ option. Dial *100# choose option 4(Beerako) then option 2 (Data/ voice Beerako). Your account is credited. It has the same service fee.
- To check your volume, Dial *175*4#