Airtel Uganda with effect today no longer supports data sharing, ‘Tugabane’ on Daily, Freak Friday, and Freaky Holiday data bundles. The telecommunication firm instead said that its subscribers can gift Freaky Friday, Freaky Holidays, and Daily data bundles to other Airtel subscribers.
In a press statement shared on their Twitter page, the telco didn’t mention why they have made these changes. In a response to some Twitter users who raised their concerns the telco’s response was, “We have made a few changes and these bundles can no longer be shared on Tugabane as per the product segmentation.” Further adding that one can instead gift the data bundles to another.
The telco stressed out that the service, Tugabane hasn’t been removed but only exempted on Daily, Freak Friday, and Freaky Holiday data bundles. Airtel users can still use Tugabane on other data bundle options except for the three. But as per the replies on the telco’s tweet, a majority of Airtel subscribers have been affected by these changes that the telco failed to explain why they made them.
Airtel launched Tugabane in 2015 under their umbrella Campaign, ‘The Smartphone Network’ to allow their customers to share their data bundles with four others subscribers irrespective of where they are geographically located. Tugabane is more like Wi-Fi Hotspots but more powerful because it is not limited by geographical coverage.
To use the Tugabane service, one customer loads data on their line, and later dials *175*5#, chooses ‘TUGABANE’ from options and then enter up to four other Airtel numbers to share the internet with.
Tugabane in the local language means ‘Let us Share’ and Airtel Uganda is trying to bridge the gap between the nation’s way of life of sharing and the need to stay connected online. This will ultimately encourage Airtel Uganda customers to easily share data with their friends and family.