Public Law & Regulation · Telecommunications · Regulatory Advisory
K&K Advocates acted as lead counsel to Uganda Communications Commission, leading two years of negotiations that secured a 12-year Second National Operator Licence for MTN Uganda at a record fee of USD 100,000,000, and then successfully defended that determination in court after a judicial review challenge.
Estimated Value: USD 100,000,000
Status: Signed
MTN Uganda Limited is Uganda's largest telecommunications operator, providing voice, data, and mobile money services across the country under a Second National Operator (SNO) Licence first issued on 15 April 1998. When that licence expired on 21 October 2018, MTN applied for renewal. What followed were close to two years of contested negotiations between the Uganda Communications Commission and MTN, one of Africa's largest telecoms groups, over the terms and fee for the renewed licence. For the Uganda Communications Commission, the challenge was to exercise its regulatory mandate robustly, securing a licence fee commensurate with the value of the market access being granted, while ensuring that the legal framework underpinning every aspect of the renewal,, its basis in statute, the fee methodology, and the treatment of the transitional operating period, was watertight.
K&K Advocates was retained by the Uganda Communications Commission as lead counsel, mandated to advise on the regulatory and legal framework governing the renewal under the Uganda Communications Act 2013, lead the negotiations with MTN Uganda and its counsel, and prepare and draft all licence documentation. With our support, the Commission granted a 12-year National Operator Licence for MTN Uganda commencing 1 July 2020 at a fixed fee of USD 100,000,000, paid in full being the highest licence fee ever paid in Uganda. The licence was formally signed on 1 July 2020.
Following the signing, the Commission separately determined that MTN owed a transitional licence fee of USD 14,140,030 for the period October 2018 to June 2020, during which MTN had continued operating under temporary extensions pending renewal. MTN challenged that determination in the High Court by way of judicial review in Miscellaneous Cause No. 240 of 2020, seeking to quash the Commission's decision and avoid payment. K&K Advocates successfully represented the Commission in defending the assessment. The High Court dismissed MTN's application in its entirety on 23 April 2021, upholding the Commission's determination and its methodology on every ground. The court confirmed that the Commission had full statutory authority to levy transitional fees, that the pro-rated methodology derived from the USD 100,000,000 licence fee was rational and fairly arrived at, and that MTN, having consumed the benefit of the transitional operating period under authorisations that expressly preserved the Commission's right to levy fees, could not resist payment.
Lead Partners: Edwin Karugire
Team: Paul Katuramu
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