MTN Uganda Data Center Power Outage Disrupts Communication and Mobile Money Services

en.Wedoany.com Reported - A power outage at one of MTN Uganda's data centers caused a service disruption, leaving users unable to make voice calls, use mobile data, or complete mobile money transactions.

The outage began around midday local time, with the impact expanding after 1:00 PM. Several hours later, MTN Uganda acknowledged the fault, stating that a major power outage had occurred at one of its data centers. The company said its technical teams were working to restore all affected services.

The fault affected customers in different regions of the country, disrupting communication, financial transactions, and other services reliant on the telecom network. In Soroti, user Martin Eswau said he was unable to contact his mother, who was traveling from Kampala and was expected to arrive around 1:00 PM, but he had not received any update on her journey by 3:00 PM. The outage also sparked widespread complaints on social media, with human rights activist Sarah Bireete posting briefly on X: "MTN, down."

In addition to voice and internet services, MTN Mobile Money services were also paralyzed, preventing customers from sending or withdrawing funds, and affecting some transactions linked to bank accounts. Deborah Asiimwe, a resident of Kyebando, said she was unable to withdraw money through MTN-DFCU Bank transactions. Businesses relying on mobile money payments were also impacted, with traders, transport operators, and customers reporting delays in receiving payments, and some bank customers unable to complete transactions linked to MTN Mobile Money.

This incident highlights MTN Uganda's central role in the country's communication and digital payment ecosystem. A prolonged outage could disrupt logistics, emergency communications, and other essential services, with economic consequences. The country has experienced several major telecom outages in recent years, including internet and social media shutdowns during the 2021 general elections, and intermittent service disruptions across multiple networks in October 2023 due to damage to national fiber infrastructure. Unlike those previous events, MTN stated that this fault was caused by a power outage at its data center.