Improvement in services of the MTN network in South Sudan’s Yei River State has excited several local residents.

Last month, citizens of Yei town complained about the lack of an efficient telecommunications service provider in the area.

MTN and Zain are the only two network providers in Yei town.

Satimon Ale, a youth leader in the state, said he directly communicated to his family from home instead of searching for higher ground as he used to do in the past months.

“I am very happy because the network is now very clear and I need to thank the management of MTN South Sudan. I am equally calling on them to continue connecting some of their towers so that people in villages have improved access to network,” Ale said.

Betty Itiya, a resident of Lomuku area, appreciated MTN for reconnecting Yei town with better network services, urging MTN technicians to install 4G network for people to access faster internet.

“We are happy with the better network now and I am calling on the MTN Company to boost its internet services so that many young people in NGOs [non-governmental organizations] and private sectors can access emails, Facebook and research on the Google website,” she said.

Malish Moses, another resident of Yei town, urged the management of MTN to reconsider reopening their Yei office to attend to customers’ needs instead of managing network services from the capital Juba.

Meanwhile, the state information minister, Mawa Moses confirmed that MTN has been servicing and reconnecting several of its towers in Yei town, Lainya County as well as in the other areas of the state.

“I can confirm that MTN network is now far much better compared to past months. We now have 3G MTN network and we are able to directly connect to the internet from our phones.  As a government, we want them to connect all counties with MTN network,” he said.

Mawa point out that thousands of local residents who fled to neighboring countries and the internally displaced persons who fled to the bush for safety in 2016 are now returning home.