ATC hits back at Smile’s claims

Details: James Barton; Category: Operators; 22 June 2023; 6222 views

American Tower Corporation has rebuked Smile’s allegation that it “illegally disconnected” the Ugandan operator from its network.

Smile has been unable to offer services for 15 months, and has remained quiet on the reasons for this until this month. In a recent statement, the operator apologised to its customers and blamed ATC for disconnecting its network in January 2022, alleging that this had cost its business US$120 million.

In response, ATC told Inside Towers: “We can confirm that ATC Uganda adheres, in all matters, to the law, and that we will not hesitate to pursue legal action in response to baseless attacks on our reputation.”

Smile and ATC have been embroiled in commercial disputes since 2018, with Smile accusing ATC of discriminatory pricing practices as well as illegally charging inflated power tariffs. As per the terms of the contracts between the parties, the claims were referred to arbitration and following an extension of the process the ruling went in ATC’s favour.

Following this, Smile claims that ATC immediately disconnected its sites, resulting in its services being taken completely offline by February 2022.