Find Telecommunication expertise in Botswana
- Operators
- Infrastructure and Usage
The telecommunications sector in Botswana is fairly undeveloped by world standards. Despite this the country has experienced increased mobile phone penetration following the turn of the century, with equilivant internet figures remaining low. Since the beginning of the 21st century the financial contribution of the telecommunication sector has been gradually decreasing, and in 2008 the sector contributed roughly 3% of the country’s total GDP.
The Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited (BTC), established in 1980, is the main provider of telecommunication services in Botswana; the company offers fixed line telephone services as well as internet packages, and caters to the residential and business market. Another key telecommunications provider is Nextcom Telecom. Other providers of internet services include IBIS and Mega. There is a large mobile phone market in Botswana, with providers including Mascom Wireless and Orange, as well as international mobile company Bee.
The BTC was also established as the state-run body responsible for the development and operation of Botswana’s telecommunications services. In 1996, the Telecommunications Act was amended, repealing the monopoly of BTC and introducing other service providers. Following the turn of the century the government made a further decision to reprivatise BTC. In 2008, the BTC Transition Act was passed in order to assist in the privatisation process. In 2012, BTC was converted from a state-owned company back into a public limited company, with shares sold off to the public. The company was renamed Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited.
The regulatory authority for the telecommunications sector is the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA). BOCRA was established in 2013 following the passing of the Communications Regulatory Authority Act of 2012. BOCRA is responsible for the regulation of the entire communications sector in Botswana, including telecommunications, internet, and information and communications technologies (ICTs) as well as commercial radio and television broadcasting.
In 2007 the Government of Botswana approved a new ICT policy. The policy, known as Maitlamo, builds on Botswana’s National ICT Vision and Objectives that were developed in April 2004. As part of the Maitlamo policy Botswana worked on establishing community access centres throughout the country, providing citizens with access to ICTs and the internet. The policy further set targets to connect all communities with over 2,000 inhabitants to high speed networks by 2016.
The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2013-14 reported high numbers of mobile phone subscriptions in Botswana; in 2014 there were 1,673 mobile telephone subscriptions for every 1,000 people in the country, giving the country a rating of 20 out of 148 countries included in the report. By comparison the numbers of telephone landlines were far fewer, with just 83 fixed telephone lines per 1,000 people for the same year. Internet usage is also quite low in the country, with results for 2013 showing that just 11.5% of the population had access to the internet.
Fixed broadband internet subscriptions in the country are negligible, with 0.8 subscriptions per 100 people. Mobile broadband subscriptions are much more widespread, with 16.6 subscriptions per 100 people. The international internet bandwidth speed in Botswana is relatively low by world standards. In 2013 the average internet speed was 6.4 kbps per internet user, giving Botswana a rating of 105 out of 148 (WEF, 2013).
Telecoms and Internet Service Providers organisations in Botswana | |
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Africa Telecommunications |
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Botswana Telecommunications Authority |
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Botswana Telecommunications Corporation |
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Broadband Botswana Internet Ltd |
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Info Botswana Internet Services (IBIS) |
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Mascom Wireless |
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Mega |
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Nextcom |
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Orange |
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UUNET Botswana |
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Verizon Botswana Ltd |
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