Internet speed and usage at the Ivory Tower is slated for a revolution if the latest developments behind the main library are anything to go by. Curious students may mistake the meters-deep pit for a rubbish dump but Campusbee understands that arrangements are in advanced stages to construct a communication tower as evidenced by the pit just across the road behind the library that is expected to literally give the fastest WiFi networks in town a run for their money.
The project, estimated at a whooping UGX 500M and funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), is slated to be completed in December according to a communication recently issued by the students’ guild leadership. However, Imran Kasujja the students’ ICT minister says the tower will only boost the “Mak Air” wireless internet. “Other wi-fi networks may have to be catered for later,” he says. Some of the students Campusbee spoke to could not obtain their excitement. James who stays at Nsibirwa hall described the latest developments as a “timely intervention in the internet crisis at Makerere.”
“You don’t know how frustrating downloading a page at 22kbps can be. You don’t know how risky it is having to go to the main building where the wi-fi is fast close to midnight just so one can do his research. It’s good news that all this is going to change,” he said. Betty, a 2nd year ICT student, also welcomed the developments but expressed reservations about the efficacy of the tower.
“Fine the tower may be there but whether it is going to serve its purpose or not is another issue. We have seen recently installed security lights not functioning; we have seen staff in offices not doing their jobs satisfactorily, and the list is endless.”
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