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BTA Background BTA was created in December 1996 as a parastatal under Part II of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Section 3 of the telecommunication Act, reads that "There is hereby established a regulatory authority to be known as the Telecommunications Authority (hereinafter referred to as "the Authority"), which shall be a body corporate with a common seal, capable of suing and being sued, and, subject to the provisions of the Act, of performing such acts as bodies corporate may, by law, perform." The 1996 Telecommunications Act details the functions, powers and duties of BTA. BTA is empowered to "supervise and promote the provision of efficient telecommunications services in Botswana." BTA's legislative mandate reflects the nation's desire to expand the reach of basic telecommunication services, and more specifically to improve the level and quality of service provision at the time the Act was passed. Under the 1996 Telecommunications Act, BTA reports to the Minister of Communications, Science and Technology. BTA is required to submit to the Minister an annual report on its yearly operation together with an audited report of its financial accounts. The Minister is required to submit these documents to the National Assembly to ensure accountability. BTA has almost complete financial independence. Under the 1996 Act, the Minister approves spending only for non-regulatory activities ever since its first year of operation, BTA has financed its budget exclusively through regulatory fees and investment income. The regulatory authority prepares its own budget every year, covering operational and procurement expenses. Each director submits a budget proposal to the Chief Executive accounting for all operational and non-operational costs. The Chief Executive bases his budget allocation decisions on the Authority's priorities as set out on a yearly basis. The final proposal is submitted to the BTA Board of Directors, which is empowered to approve the budget. With the exception of expenditures for non-regulatory activities, neither the Minister, the Finance Minister or any other government official has any involvement in BTA's budget. Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, BTA is subject to an annual audit by an independent audit firm. In addition, BTA's financial reports are submitted to the Auditor General, apart from submission to the Minister, who has the right to advise the government that BTA's books should be inspected BTA received a government appropriation of P4.2 million in its first year in order to launch its operation. It has been completely self-sufficient ever since with the exception of a grant of P2.2 million in 2001 to fund the first phase of the spectrum-planning project. The initial government allocation was in addition to BWP 4 million from the Botswana and Swedish governments to finance the costs of two Swedish consultants during the initial phase of BTA's operations. The 50/50 funding from the government of Botswana and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) continued through the year 2000. BTA believes that its fees are comparable to those levied in other countries in Africa and in particular South Africa also charges 5% of net turnover. BTA also plans to use its budget surplus to finance a universal service program and for long-term investments. It will review the current radio license pricing structure in view of a recent spectrum management study. The opening up of the telecommunications industry, or market liberalisation in Botswana came into being after a study of the processes and implications of a liberalized telecommunications industry. Government carried out extensive consultations with stakeholders throughout Botswana. The study was concluded in 1995 and it recommended a gradual opening of the telecommunications industry. A Telecommunications Policy was adopted by the Government following the study, and the guiding principles to the Policy were: promotion of competition and diversification of technological products and services through the participation of the private sector; separation of regulatory functions from operational through the establishment of an independent regulatory body; and regulation of the industry to enhance attainment of goals of Universal Service, efficient services and regional balance also guided the Policy. Arising from the Policy was the enactment of the Telecommunication Act in 1996. This legislative measure paved the way for the establishment of the Botswana Telecommunications Authority (BTA) on the 20 December 1996 when the first Board of Directors was appointed. The enactment of the new legislation also led to the amendment of the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) Act of 1980 to allow for competition in the industry and the termination of BTC's monopoly and the dual role of being a regulator and an operator. What does the BTA do? The BTA promotes the development of efficient telecommunication services in Botswana. As such, it acts as a 'referee' in the telecommunication industry of Botswana. It governs participation in the market, protects the interests of consumers and facilitates entry of new comers in the industry and ensures that the incumbent operator(s) do not abuse their market power. BTA 'levels the playing field' for all players in the market. The functions of BTA include: monitoring of the industry as prescribed by the laws of the country; issuing and monitoring of licenses; mediating between operators, and between operators and consumers - supervising and handling their disputes. It also determines the type of equipment that can be attached to existing networks, in this case, the BTC, and mobile operators' networks; it deals with consumer and user protection issues; manages the use of the frequency spectrum; and controls prices within the industry. BTA Achievements 'With BTA in the driving seat', tangible results of the liberalization process of the telecommunication industry are visible. The results include among others: the rapid pace of telecommunications coverage and connections; choice of service providers; accessibility of service to disadvantaged groups in both urban and rural areas, contributing to the accelerated economic and commercial growth of the country. At the beginning of the liberalisation exercise in 1996, the number of telephone lines which were only fixed at that time, were a modest 59 673 or a teledensity of 4% or 4 line per 100 people. Today 2004, fixed telephony lines have grown to 133 740 resulting in teledensity of 8% or 8 lines every 100 people as at the end of April 2004. Mobile lines have grown from 0 to BTC's (incumbent operator) performance Competition in the telecommunications market was first introduced by licensing two mobile operators: Mascom Wireless and Vista Cellular and BTC for the first time had to face competition. BTC has since increased its performance in terms of telephone penetration rate and expanded its network. It has introduced a new range of services, such as voicemail, paging, toll-free numbers, global prepaid calling, various value-added services, and the 'wireless fast connect' which enables fast connection of telephones to homes and business using wireless local loop. BTC is also an Internet Service Provider through its subsidiary BOTSNET Mobile telephone sector performance In 1998, BTA licensed two mobile operators: Mascom Wireless and Vista Cellular. Both operators have made significant input into the telecommunications market. The combined customer base of both operators and fixed line is 651753 in April 2004. Broadcasting In 1998 BTA awarded two FM Commercial Broadcasting licenses to Thari Investment Growth Fund, now operating as Gabz FM, which had tendered for Gaborone and Lobatse, and YaRona FM, which tendered for Gaborone. The National Broadcasting Board (NBB) has assumed all its powers under the Broadcasting Act of 1998 effective from 29 June 2001 in order to be responsible for the licensing and monitoring of the radio and television broadcasting industry, and as of that date the Authority has ceased to regulate broadcasting, however, it will act as the technical advisor and secretariat to the NBB. Internet/data services BTA has also licensed ten Internet Service Providers (ISPs) since its inception, and now full Internet services are available through 10 service providers. These ISPs are AME Enterprises, Botsnet, Logical Botswana, Mega Internet, 4Site, Pan African Communications Network (PACONET), Romela Internet, USKO and UUNET. There are also six licensed international data gateway service providers, namely, Vista Cellular; AME Enterprises; UUNET; Integrated Digital Networks; AfriSwitch; and Pan African Communications Networks. Transtel and SITA have also been licensed to provide data services. Human resources The Authority has acquired through its years of existence well-trained and trainable calibre of manpower. It also continues to train its employees in areas of Telecommunication Policy and Regulation; Telecommunication Engineering; Telecommunication Law; and in Finance and Administration. Regional, Sub-Regional and International participation BTA's existence has also been felt outside Botswana. It is regarded as a role model in best practices in regulation. BTA represents Botswana in regional, sub-regional and international bodies such the Telecommunications Regulators Association of Southern Africa (TRASA) where it is a member of the executive committee having previously been chairman; at regional level, the Executive Chairman of BTA is the current Chairman of a committee of the forum on Telecommunication Regulation in Africa; and at international level, it represents Botswana Government in International Telecommunications Union (ITU), where the BTA Executive Chairman, has been appointed Vice Chairperson of the ITU's Telecommunications Development Advisory Group (TDAG) on regulatory matters for the Africa region since 1998. The Executive Chairman of BTA is also Co-Vice Chairman of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO) Council. He has also chaired the First ITU World Regulators Forum, which was held in Geneva in 2000. The BTA has been selected with four other countries viz. Brazil, Morocco, Peru and Singapore, for case studies in best practices in telecommunications regulation. The ITU team of two official finished interviews the week of 9 - 12 July 2001 and their report will be discussed in future ITU conferences. Financial Performance The BTA has performed well since inception with annual profit as follows: 1997/1998 (P2 878 283); 1998/1999 (P3 639 419); 1999/2000 (P10 482 230) and 2000/2001 (P20 860 264). The BTA is financially self sufficient and this has enabled it to construct its headquarters to the tune of about P20 million as well as investment in property for the generation of income. The Board of the BTA has just taken a decision to plough back some of the profits in increasing connectivity in the country for the benefit of many more consumers. Regulatory Challenges The entry of competitors in the market has raised challenges presenting the Authority with unprecedented and complex tasks. Among these are interconnection issues; having to deal with issues such as Information and Communication Technologies (ICT's), and how to ensure that ICTs reach the rural community; formulation of policies and guidelines for new technologies such as Voice over the Internet; spearheading and coming up with ways of regulating new technologies. Also challenging in the operations of the Authority is having to deal with immense pressure from new entrants and consumers, expecting BTA to rapidly transform the dominant and well established monopolistic, BTC. Customers and consumers fail to understand why things do not happen immediately when the legislation is in place - the Policy and the Act. Regulators need to earn their credibility and it becomes crucial to get the first major decisions right in spite of limited experience and often with human and financial constraints. This often results in long processes to see that things are done well in the confidence building exercise. Unfortunately stakeholders often interpret this as delays. Other challenges, which BTA will have to face in the near future include issues such as number portability, which is where a subscriber from one network can change to another network operator but still retaining their original number; introduction of the per-second billing; formulation of Policy on ICTs in line with the international trends; beefing up of the BTA's consumer affairs unit; tariff re-balancing, which is a mechanism whereby services are priced to reflect their true cost; and development of the national frequency plan.
Archieves:
ITU
Seminar Kasane
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