Boycott campaign in Sudan targets telecom companies to compel better service

July 3, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese Telecom companies are expected to face real challenge after a boycott campaign targeting them was launched by activists who complain about deteriorating internet speeds.

The activists advertised for the campaign via social networking sites calling for a five-hours boycott starting Friday at 5 pm.

They called on subscribers to place their phones on airplane mode or taking out the SIM card during these five hours.

Their stated goal is to press Telecom companies to boost internet speeds, reduce prices, improve customer service and eliminating “fair use” policy.

Internet services in Sudan have witnessed significant decline especially during peak hours and in remote parts of the country.

There were boycott campaigns in the past targeting Telecom companies but did not appear to have succeeded in forcing service changes.

But these companies cannot afford wrath of its customers given existing restrictions imposed on them by the government in terms of repatriating profits as well as emergence of voice-calls applications such as Whatsapp, Viber and Skype.

These companies also suffer from constraints related to fuel scarcity in some states and insecurity in other states.

(ST)