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Mobile telepnony claim there are now between 20,000 and 40,000 Internet subscribers in Botswana, split roughly equally betweenthecorporatemarketandthe ‘massmarket’ofconsumersandsmall businesses. A number of indicators suggest that latent demand for Internet is high. Botswana has a high level of literacy and many people with international activities; nevertheless, a number of factors constrain Internet usage growth. Short-termgrowthconstraints<strong>include</strong>: -ThehighpriceofglobalInternetconnectivity; Figure 1: Development of number of subscribers since 1999. Source: Botswana Telecommunications Authority (BTA) (Figures are for end of March each year). the number of fixed subscribers was about136,000,accordingtotheBTA. This implies a mobile penetration of around34percentandafixedpenetration of some eight per cent. The mobile penetration puts Botswana aheadofmostotherAfricancountries, butwayshortofmostcountriesinthe EU. TakingintoaccounttheGDPpercapitaandcomparingthemobilepenetrationtosimilarcountriesinmacro-economicterms,revealsthatweareprettymuchinthemiddleofthebunch,as Figure 2 shows. It must, though, be remembered that Botswana is an extremelysparselypopulatedcountry withthanthreeinhabitantsperkm. Fixedlinepenetrationgivesaslightly different picture. Botswana has not performed as well in increasing the fixed penetration given the country’s overall economic situation and businessactivity.AccordingtoITUstatistics,werankwellbelowaveragewhen compared to countries with similar GDPpercapita. Lowfixedlinepenetrationisnotnecessarily a problem when it comes to voice services, since mobile penetration is so relatively high, but it does hinder public access to Internet and web-basedinformationservices. Currently, Internet penetration is much lower than what could be expected. Levels of Internet use in Botswana are low compared with othercountrieswithsimilarGDPper head (Figure 4). ITU data from two years ago indicates that there were some 60,000 Internet users in Botswana. Internet service providers - Limited availability of global Internet connectivity. Today, file transfers from foreign servers are oftenaslowas2-3Kbpersecond,but upgradesoftheinternationalfacilities areinprogress; -Highcostsofenduseraccess–high usage residential users often pay 100 per month or more including subscriptiontotheISP,usingeitherPSTN dial-up service or fixed wireless access, rebalancing of prices to cost willstrengthenthisconstraint; -ThelackofanInternetexchangein Botswana means that a high proportionofemailsareroutedinternationally,usingscarceandexpensiveglobal Internetconnectivity; -Thelowlevelsoffixedlinepenetration. Long-term growth is constrained by otherfactorsincluding: -LowPCpenetration; - Lack of electricity to power PCs in manyruralareahomes; -Lowlevelsoflocalcontent; -LowITandInternetliteracy. Figure 2: A benchmark of mobile penetration in Botswana. Source: Ovum based on ITU statistics. Currently,datanetworkoperatorsand ISPs are banned, through a clause in theirlicences,fromusingtheInternet tocarryvoicecallseithernationallyor internationally. However, there are clear indications that end users are ignoring this ban and making VoIP callsanyway.Trafficstatisticssupport thishypothesisandasignificantnumber of Botswana’s Internet users are registeredusersofSkype.Itisestimatedthat10-15percentoftheoutgoing international traffic already is VoIP, which, if accurate, raises concerns 52
Mobile telepnony substantial investment considering the small market in Botswana. There is optimism, however, about the take upofGPRSandEDGE-basedservices. Acompellingofferandpricingmodel, inaccordancewiththelocaleconomy, willcontributetothewideravailabilityofservices,andpromotethespread of the Internet and ICT among the population – which is one of the pillarsofthecountry’s‘Vision2016’. Figure 3: A benchmark of fixed line penetration in Botswana. Source: Ovum based on ITU statistics. over what will happen when it is allowed. There is little doubt that IP-based providers could take a significant share of both international and nationaltrafficoncefullyliberalised. So,wheredowegonow Following a major study and public consultations,theBTAisnowformulating its final plan for liberalisation, which, once approved by parliament, willshapethestructureoftheindustry foryearstocome.Theplanistoliberaliseallmarketsegmentswithin12to 18 months. Expectations are that it willleadtoafullyopenmarketmore competitive market to the benefit of users. First and foremost, it will be important to remove existing bottlenecks and allow competition on facilities and services that are currently monopolised. This <strong>include</strong>s, amongst others, allowing alternative international gateway providers using IPbasedtechnology. Amajorconcernisthelackofalternativesforinternationaltraffic.Thereis only one international gateway. Internationally, although the cost of capacityhascomedowntremendouslyoverthelastyears,thathasnotyet showninthewholesaleratesforinternational traffic in Botswana. Ultimately, the end users are losing fromthissituation. Therefore, once the plan for an open market has been approved, the path should be paved for IP-based infrastructure and solutions providers in Botswana, be it national or internationalservicesorboth. GPRSandEDGEarejustabouttobe launchedinBotswana;thiscalledfora We welcome you comments... If you have any comments or opinions about this issue’s theme, IP – Intelligent Positioning for the growth, as it affects Africa and the Middle East and beyond, we would like to hear from you. Send us your comments. Simply complete the reply card and fax it to our editorial team. Fax number: +44 20 7474 0900 or send an email to: editorial@connect-world.com Figure 4: A benchmark of Internet penetration in Botswana. Source: Ovum based on ITU statistics. 53
Page 2 and 3: Broadband Mobility Welcome Aboard B
Page 4: T his issue of Connect-World EMEA (
Page 7 and 8: Contents 1-Connections 5-Contents N
Page 9 and 10: Getting the good route won’t be h
Page 11: National development "The universal
Page 14: Regional communications to carry th
Page 18: IP networks IP provides a foundatio
Page 21 and 22: IP communications assurance Getting
Page 24 and 25: Broadband The broadband revolution:
Page 27 and 28: Broadband High-performance broadban
Page 29 and 30: Broadband "Today’s basic highcapa
Page 31 and 32: Broadband You are a decision maker
Page 33 and 34: mtcatheer-mtcatheer-mtcatheer-mtcat
Page 35 and 36: Triple play other technologies, a k
Page 37 and 38: Triple play "More and more, consume
Page 40 and 41: Triple play Enhancingtheenduser exp
Page 42 and 43: Africa’s most comprehensive RFID
Page 44 and 45: Designing Future Business Think for
Page 46: Mobile convergence minute. Enhanced
Page 49 and 50: Mobile value-added services Voice-b
Page 51 and 52: Mobile value-added services riers t
Page 56 and 57: Mobile telephony What mobile teleph
Page 58 and 59: Mobile telephony the lowest tariffs
Page 60: Business communications their freed
Page 63 and 64: Cultural development and the Intern
Page 65 and 66: Service assurance Service assurance
Page 67 and 68: Service assurance agesandofferacomp

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