British based Telecom Company - Vodafone has signed a deal with broadband company, Afrimax, to provide voice and data services under the Vodafone Uganda brand to increase its presence in the country and on the continent.

Officials said in a press release on Nov. 18 that under the non-equity framework agreement, Vodafone and Afrimax will explore potential partner market opportunities in a variety of territories in sub-Saharan Africa. Vodafone is the world's second largest telecom with 434 million subscribers, capital worth £89.1b (about sh382trillion) and revenues of £38.34b (about sh164 trillion) according to financials released in March this year. Officials said that under the Partner Market agreement in Uganda, the two companies will offer customers voice and data products and services using the 'Vodafone Uganda' brand.

Vodafone's multinational corporate customers will benefit from the addition of Uganda to their existing contracts for international managed services, officials added. Vodafone Partner Markets Chief Executive Stefano Gastaut said: "Uganda is an attractive market and we are delighted to welcome Afrimax to our successful Partner Markets community, which already operates in more than fifty countries.

We look forward to exploring the potential for further Partner Market agreements in sub-Saharan Africa with Afrimax, under our framework cooperation agreement."Uganda has more than six operators including MTN and Airtel controlling over 90% of the subscriber base, Uganda telecom, Orange/Africell, Smart telecom, K2 among other licensed operators. Analysts are predicting another tough competition in the market similar to one ignited by Warid telecom in 2009/10.