Botswana is one of Africa’s wealthiest nations with a thriving economy mainly based on diamond mining and tourism which recovered quickly from a recession during the global financial crisis (GFC). Regulatory reform has turned the country into one of the most liberalised telecommunications markets in the region, including a service-neutral licensing regime which takes into account the increasing convergence of technologies and services.
Although at well over 100% Botswana has one of the highest mobile market
penetration rates in Africa, the average revenue per user is also one of the
highest on the continent. In a bid to generate new revenue streams and secure
market share, the three mobile operators – Mascom Wireless (an affiliate of
South Africa’s MTN), Orange Botswana (backed by France Telecom) and BeMobile (a
subsidiary of fixed-line incumbent BTC) – have entered the underdeveloped
broadband sector with different strategies including 3G mobile, LTE, WiMAX, and
bundling with fixed-line (ADSL) services. Here they are competing with a large
number of ISPs, some of which have rolled out their own wireless access
infrastructure.
After stagnating for three years, the number of internet users has been
rising since 2012, as a result of lower prices following improvements in
international connectivity. Historically, the landlocked country has depended
on satellites for its international bandwidth, and on other countries for
transit capacity to landing points of international submarine fibre optic cable
systems. The landing of additional cables in the region in 2011 and 2012 has improved
the competitive situation in this sector.
The planned privatisation of BTC has been postponed in the wake of the
global economic crisis and is now expected to be completed in 2014.
For more information see – Botswana- Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband
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