Airtel customers are discontent with the data services provided by the telecom company as they say they are cheated.

Many customers complain about the Airtel data services on its social media platforms mostly Twitter and Facebook. Customers say Airtel cheats them and that nothing has been done to address this issue.

Francis Xavier Ssenono, a second year Software Engineering student at Makerere University, says he loads one Gigabyte of data daily using mobile money and he is given 50% bonus. "When the bonus gets depleted, the data stops running for like 5 hours," he said.

He added that the data drains a lot and yet he doesn't always use the Internet.

Airtel provides daily, weekly, monthly and yearly data bundles. It’s always up to the customer to choose the option they are comfortable with.

For Innocent Agaba, a second year Bachelor of Pharmacy student at KIU-Ishaka campus, "Airtel sends me a message indicating how I have used 90% already immediately I load the data and that’s before I even read any message on my WhatsApp or use the Internet."

Other customers complained of the slow Airtel Internet.  Joselyn Zawedde whose Twitter profile shows that she's a resident of Gayaza, complained that Airtel internet is bad. "Airtel upgraded to 4G network but their Internet is as slow as a 2G network. I am so disappointed." read her tweet. She further said she would change to the other telecom networks that are faster.

When Airtel upgraded to 4G, it promised its customers that they would be rewarded 1GB of data. However, customers complain of not getting this data and also some have problems as they get disconnected when they switch to 4G.

Olivia Nakayima a second year Bachelor of Journalism and Communication student says she switched to 4G network but she has not received the data Airtel promised. "I have not got the 1GB yet I upgraded on Monday, I don't know what the problem is," she said.

Journalism@Mak contacted the Airtel customer service asking them about their customers’ discontent but they encouraged customers to go to their Airtel shops. "It’s unfortunate some customers are going through that experience. However, kindly tell the affected customers to come to our Airtel shops with their mobile devices such that we can do a physical trouble shoot and assist," read the email.