Backdrop

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(No Transcript)
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Backdrop
Closing the communication gap

• BTC was the sole telecommunications provider till
  1996.
  
• Parliament established a regulatory body in
  1996.
  
• Botswana Telecommunications Authority issued
  mobile licenses (2) and ISP licenses in the
  following year.
  
• The Act allowed the incumbent operator to compete
  in the competitive services by setting up a
  separate subsidiary.

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Backdrop contd.
Closing the communication gap

• BTC in compliance, set up a subsidiary called
  Botsnet to provide retail Internet services to
  the customers of Botswana and outside Botswana.

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BTC Internet Strategy
Closing the communication gap

• BTC , as a Telco also decided that IP as a
  technology should be a part of the BTC s product
  portfolio.
  
• To achieve the same, BTC now offers Corporate
  Internet Services with a focus on internet
  infrastructure provision (an ISPs ISP)

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BTCs Strengths
Closing the communication gap

• the best infrastructure available.
• traffic can be carried all across Botswana on
  dedicated IP backbone either on ATM or Frame
  Relay
  
• largest team of skilled telecom and IT
  professionals
  
• Ability to negotiate attractive bandwidth rates
  and can consolidate traffic
  
• can exchange traffic with other ISPs and also
  look into offering future IP backbone services

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BTC s Current and Future Network
Closing the communication gap
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Closing the communication gap
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Closing the communication gap
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Current BTC offerings
Closing the communication gap

• Point of Presence Services
• Corporate Internet Access ( multiple grade of
  services)
  
• Server farms
• Bandwidth provision for ISPs
• DNS registration and maintenance
• Online bandwidth monitoring
• BTC has quadrupled the capacity in the last 1
  year and currently is at 6 Mb
  

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Future Internet Services
Closing the communication gap

• End to end managed internet access
• Virtual Private Networks
• Voice over IP
• E-commerce gateway
• Extension of server farms and bulk web hosting
  facilities
  
• POPs outside Botswana
• Online DNS registration
• Online billing

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Role of PTO BTCs Understanding
Closing the communication gap

• The technology is changing towards IP.
• Telcos have to follow the same trend.
• Also it will jeopardize the existing revenue
  stream which are primarily from voice, shifting
  towards data in the last few years.
  
• All voice and data infrastructure will be a dead
  weight as the cost of carrying the same is
  significantly less on IP, which reduces the
  barrier to entry for the new operators.

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Role of PTO BTCs Understanding contd..
Closing the communication gap

• Lastly, the suppliers are converging and making a
  single platform to deliver all services resulting
  in high costs of maintaining existing different
  platforms.

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Botswana Issues
Closing the communication gap

• ISPs can use any technologies to connect to the
  internet and create own infrastructure.
  
• BTC can thus compete in this market and can offer
  any infrastructure services.
  
• BTC also feels that the national resources are
  not being utilized prudently.
  
• The ISP licensee is not allowed to use VOIP.

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Botswana Issues contd..
Closing the communication gap

• Regulators are unable to control the same and
  normally doesnt have resources to manage the
  same.
  
• Implementation of inconsistent policies or
  policies devised without taking the incumbent
  operator point of view, are difficult to
  implement.
• The internet market is not separate and has to be
  looked together with data and voice market.
  

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Botswana Issues contd..
Closing the communication gap

• The ISPs are up in arms against launching BTCs
• internet company, Botsnet.
• BTC ensured not to favor the ISP and kept an
  arms length distance with the same.
  
• ISPs still complained without proving the same.
• The economic background changed when
  international ISPs started looking at Botswana
  market, with an eye to provide all the data / IP
  / VAS services.

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Achievements
Closing the communication gap

• 6 Mbps internet bandwidth and increasing it
  further by 8 Mbps capacity.
  
• increased efficiency on internet as most of it is
  directly to USA and not to SA.
  
• competitive rates comparative to the neighboring
  countries.
  
• BTC is looking towards setting up Electronic Data
  Interchange (EDI) facility to enable integration
  on a single platform.
  

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EDI contd..
Closing the communication gap
Closed Communities
Service Providers
X.400
SMTP/ MIME
Fax
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Closing the communication gap

• Thank You