The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has cooled its interest in taking control of the Uganda country code, .ug.
The country code is registered to and controlled by Charles Musisi, an Internet entrepreneur who has managed Uganda domain names over the past 12 years.
“There is no immediate intention of claiming that domain name,” Patrick Mwesigwa, UCC’s technical manager, said in an interview.
This represents a reversal by UCC, considering that the powerful regulator made its intentions of taking over the domain name known in 2006 in a local media report.
“We think the regulator should be in charge of administration of the domain names to make them cheaper and to achieve universal access of the Internet in the country,” UCC’s Corporate Affairs Manager Fred Otunnu was quoted as saying then.
According to current estimates, there are slightly more than 50,000 Ugandans who regularly use the Internet and at least 100,000 who have e-mail accounts. Records show that Uganda is the largest registry in East Africa and the third-largest on the continent, with 4,000 .ug registered domain name.
Original article : http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/070808-regulator-cools-attempt-to-control.html