Commercial Court Division What is Gemtel? According to GOSS in their letter referenced M.T. x PS/GOSS/A-05/06 of 24th April, 2006 (Exhibit P.5), M/S Gemtel Ltd is “… a licensed Telecommunication operator in Southern Sudan …” . It would appear that M/S Gemtel Ltd is not a state run company but rather a private telecommunications operator (based in, yei, Southern Sudan according to the letter) whose chairman/CEO is called Mr. Augustus Mulenga. Could Gemtel use Uganda’s country code? This question is at the heart of the dispute. Having found that Gemtel is a private telecommunication operator in Southern Sudan, it is important to note that the request by GOSS to the Government of Uganda was for Gemtel to use Uganda’s country code +256. This in my view is different from GOSS asking Uganda to use its country code. Exhibit P.5 was clear it reads “… we would like to request you to authorize the appropriate authorities to allow Gemtel to use the Uganda country code (+256) in the interim for provision of our services in Southern Sudan …” The same letter states earlier “… Southern Sudan is in the process of procuring an assignment of telecommunications country code from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). In the meantime however, Gemtel is ready to launch services but lacks a country code …” The communication industry in Uganda is regulated by the Uganda Communications Act (Cap. 106 “UCA”). The parties to the dispute are all agreed on this point. Unless exempted under Section 25 of The UCA, no person shall establish a telecommunications station, provide such services and or contract, maintain or operate telecommunications apparatus. The Minister under Section 33 of the UCA HCT - 00 - CC - CS- 297- 2008 /14