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Mascom encourages further public-private projects in Botswana [TeleGeography CommsUpdate](TeleGeography CommsUpdate Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) An executive at Botswana mobile operator Mascom Wireless has said that the government should continue to play an active role in pushing the development of the country's telecoms markets in order to ensure that broadband internet access is made available to all citizens. Tebogo Lebotse-Sebego, Mascom's head of marketing and public relations, praised the government for its Nteletsa programmes, which offer subsidies to operators to encourage them to deploy networks in rural areas that would be avoided under normal commercial rollouts as the low population density would not offer sufficient returns to cover the network investment. Lebotse-Sebego said current legislation which encouraged public-private partnerships was working well, BiztechAfrica reports, and that the state should continue to intervene to ensure that network operators have access not only to subsidies, but also vital infrastructure such as electricity supplies, roads, tower sites and backhaul networks. According to TeleGeography's GlobalComms Database, the government's Nteletsa project was introduced in 1999 as part of its Rural Telecommunications Development Programme, with the aim of bringing voice, data and internet services to rural and underserved areas of the country. Under the initial phase of the project, state-backed telco Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) was responsible for the supply, installation, operation and maintenance of telecoms services and networks in communities in Tuli Block, Barolong, Tswapong, Ngwaketse, Kweneng, and the Southern and North East districts. In 2008 the government launched the second phase of the project (Nteletsa II), awarding contracts to BTC, Mascom Wireless and local consortium Kuto Lamworld Telenet, to see telecoms services extended to other rural areas. (c) 2014 PriMetrica, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] |