Who wouldn’t want unlimited internet bundles? It is a season of daily internet usage, even now that COVID-19 has got us social distancing and settled in our homes.
We buy internet bundles every day for our smartphones after we leave our favorite WiFi hotspots and our workplaces. Everyone runs to the cheaper affordable option.
However, truth be told, it sucks to be in-between a session and your bundle gets depleted along the way. Even those bigger bundles (monthly, quarterly) could get depleted along the way. This can leave one in frustration because an internet bundle they thought would take them through the month (even 3 or 4 months), elapsed while they were downloading or even uploading something.
In this blog, I bring us all an alternative. Internet service providers in Uganda offer unlimited internet bundles. These you might have not known about or even considered checking them out, but ISPs offer multiple unlimited internet bundle options. Follow through with me, and let’s find the best-unlimited internet bundles option for you.
Contents
What are unlimited Internet Bundles?
The word unlimited speaks for itself. Unlimited internet bundles are those which allow one to use the internet for as long as they are connected to it. For unlimited internet bundles, you are not given a specified number of MBs as it is for daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly bundles. You browse the internet, PAKALAST, provided the time of connectivity which you subscribed for hasn’t elapsed.
There is a simple fact however about these bundles. For unlimited bundles, you are given a specific limit to the amount of bandwidth you can connect to. This could be 2Mbps, 5Mbps, 10Mbps, or any other number of Megabits per second that you are limited to use.
What are Megabits per second (Mbps)?
Megabits per second are a measure of internet speed. This can be upload or download speed. This means that if you are using the internet with a maximum limit of let’s say 2 Mbps, the maximum internet speed with which you can download or upload files on the internet is 2 Mbps.
This means that the higher the Mbps, the faster the internet upload or download speed.
However, you should take note that different factors affect the speed of the internet. This then means that if your internet service provider states a maximum number of Mbps, it is not a must that the internet speed will always be running at maximum megabits per second.
With all that said, here is a list of Unlimited Internet bundle options in Uganda, provided by the four major telecom companies.
In no particular order, we have Africell, MTN, Airtel, and UTL. Let’s delve into the available options.
Buy Africell Uganda Unlimited Internet Bundles
Africell Uganda has 2 unlimited internet bundle options. The first is a one-day bundle, the other is a monthly bundle.
The One-day unlimited bundle is UGX 20,000 and The One-month unlimited bundle is UGX 350,000.
The Bandwidth of these two bundles is not indicated on Africell’s official website.
Here is how you can Buy Africell Uganda’s Unlimited Internet Bundles in 3 simple steps.
- Dial *133#
- Then select option 5 (Unlimited)
- Two options will be listed for you, the One Day Unlimited and One Month Unlimited. Choose your preferred option and proceed to purchase
ALSO READ: 5 unique things you didn’t know about Africell Uganda
Buy MTN Uganda Unlimited Internet Bundles
MTN Uganda also has 2 unlimited internet bundle options. These 2 options, however, are different from Africell’s.
These are both Monthly Unlimited options, one is dubbed Basic and the other Premium.
The Unlimited Basic is UGX 179,000 and the Unlimited Premium is UGX 330,000.
These two bundles, however, come with bandwidth limitations.
For the Unlimited Basic, you are allowed to use any amount of Bandwidth speed until when you hit 1GB (This restriction is done for each day, of the month). After you hit 1GB, you are limited to 128 kbps on that day.
This is the same thing done for the Unlimited Premium bundle. You are allowed to use any amount of Bandwidth speed until when you hit 3GB (This restriction is done for each day, of the month). After you hit 3GB, you are limited to 128 kbps on that day.
Here is how you can Buy MTN Uganda’s Unlimited Internet Bundles.
- Dial *150#
- Then select option 1 (Mobile Internet)
- On the next interface, select 1 (Buy a bundle)
- You will then be displayed with the interface as shown in the second screenshot above, select option 7 (Unlimited Bundle)
- Thereafter, you can choose from the 2 Unlimited bundle packages on the last interface shown above
Buy Airtel Uganda Unlimited Internet Bundles
Airtel Uganda to has 2 unlimited bundle options. I don’t know why, but it seems as though Airtel Uganda copied MTN Uganda.
Before you eat me up, for alleging things I have no evidence for, follow through and let me show you.
Just like MTN Uganda, Airtel Uganda has Monthly Unlimited options. One is dubbed Regular and the other Super. I don’t know if you see where we are going.
The Unlimited Regular is UGX 179,000 and the Unlimited Super is UGX 330,000.
I am not very certain about Airtel’s bandwidth limitations, but most probably, they could be similar to those of MTN Uganda as explained above.
The Unlimited Regular Bundle, just like MTN’s Basic, offers a 1 GB unlimited bundle every day, and after which, your bandwidth is limited for that day.
The Unlimited Super Bundle also offers 3 GB unlimited speed every day, and after which, your bandwidth is limited for that day. I am not certain about their bandwidth limitations, I tried to contact Airtel, but they never got back to me.
Here is how you can Buy MTN Uganda’s Unlimited Internet Bundles.
- Dial *175#
- Select option 2 (Data Bundles)
- Then choose option 5 (Data Pakalast)
- The 2 options, Regular and Super will be given to you. Then you proceed with the payments either with Airtime or with Mobile Money
Buy UTL Unlimited Internet Bundles
Fortunately, UTL has unveiled unlimited and uncapped Internet Bundles. The cost of installation has not been specified yet.
| Bundle | Cost (UGX) |
|---|---|
| 1 Mbps | 134,000 |
| 2 Mbps | 168,000 |
| 3 Mbps | 224,000 |
| 4 Mbps | 460,000 |
| 5 Mbps | 670,000 |
| 10 Mbps | 1,340,000 |
Table Comparison of Unlimited Internet Bundles for all telecom companies in Uganda
| Telecom Company | Unlimited Bundle Offer | Price (UGX) |
|---|---|---|
| Africell Uganda | One Day unlimited bundle | 20,000 |
| One Month Unlimited Bundle | 350,000 | |
| MTN Uganda | Unlimited Basic (One Month) | 179,000 |
| Unlimited Premium (One Month) | 330,000 | |
| Airtel Uganda | Regular (One Month) | 179,000 |
| Super (One Month) | 330,000 | |
| UTL | n/a | n/a |
Conclusion
Internet access in Uganda is still expensive, even with some subsidized bundle offers. Unlimited Internet itself is expensive from these major telecom service providers. From the list above, what do you think is the best-unlimited internet bundle option offered by Uganda’s top telecom companies? Share with us in the comments below.