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INTERNET USAGE IN BOTSWANA
According to The World Bank, the internet was being used by 1% of the total population of Botswana in 1998 and by the year 2020 internet usage had increased to 64% of the total population. As of January 2022, 1.5 million internet users were registered.
Figure 1: Botswana’s Internet Usage
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From the diagram above, the greatest jump in internet usage occurred from year 2010 and was perhaps influenced by the introduction of the 4G LTE which ushered in the era of mobile broadband analog voice. In 2014, Statistics Botswana reported that 85.3% of the total population used a mobile cellular phone and this increased accessibility to the internet for users (as per same report the most common device used for internet access was a mobile cellphone).
BoFiNet has been a major player in the increased accessibility and usage of the internet in Botswana. Through its Internet Protocol Transit (IPT) product, BoFiNet has enabled users to have access to online content through peering with different service providers in South Africa and London. Over the years it has expanded its network infrastructure to reach different parts of the country that were not covered initially. Two hundred and six (206) localities are currently connected to the national open access broadband infrastructure and with the UNLEASH 2025 strategy the remaining 193 are targeted to be covered by year 2025. These infrastructure developments have enabled provisioning of backhaul capacity to mobile operators for the implementation of 3G, 4G and 5G networks therefore enabling mobile cellphone internet users.
As at end of September 2022, Botswana’s total internet traffic amounted to 60.18 Gbps, a significant growth from when utilization was just 2.19 Gbps at end of year 2014, BoFiNet’ s first full operational year.
As BoFiNet continues to expand its reach countrywide and the launch of its latest product, The Digital Delta Data Centre in 2023, the numbers in the charts above will definitely go high.
The trendline forecasts that by 2025 utilization will be around 78 Gbps, however with BoFiNet increasing its reachability to other areas not currently covered with access network the number may be even higher. In addition, the evolution of Cloud Computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) dictates the provisioning of high-capacity networks to enable these technologies.
Smart Mobiles, refrigerators, watches, fire alarms, door locks, bicycles, medical sensors, fitness trackers, security system, are just a few examples of IoT products that imply a need for faster networks, therefore, providing new opportunities for change and innovation. The SMARTBOTS project is one of the flagship government projects in their quest towards a knowledge-based economy and BoFiNet has recently completed phase 1 of the project. This has not only provided internet access to the general community but has also created employment.
