Licensing - Botswana Telecommunications Authority

LICENSED OPERATORS

Botswana Telecommunications Authority issues the following licences in accordance with the Telecommunication Act, 1996 (No.15 of 1996):

Telecommunication Service Licence issued under section 27 for providing telecommunication service (including cellular telephony, packet switched data services and paging services)
Telecommunication System Licence issued under section 28 for establishing telecommunication system.
Type approval certificate issued under section 21. All telecommunication equipment have to be type approved by the Authority.
Radio Licence issued under section 42. All radio transmitters have to be licensed whether operating or not.
Radio Dealer Licence issued under section 27 for all suppliers of radio equipment.

Telecommunication Service Licensing Procedure

The telecommunication market is segmented into various sub-categories such as Fixed, Cellular, Internet Service Providers (ISP), Satellite and Data etc. Other segments of the market are competitive while the others are still non-competitive. In non-competitive market the number of players is restricted. In the competitive market there is no limit on the number of players. The competitive markets are Internet Service Providers, Data service providers and paging services. The Fixed telephone services and cellular service are currently non-competitive, the Authority will determine the licensing procedure on a case by case in future.

Licensing Procedure for competitive market such as ISP, Data and Paging

For example for ISP licensing the applicant is required to submit the following:

Basic description of service to be provided
Complete ownership profile of the company, listing all directors, their addresses and their equity holdings.
Contact details
Business plan
Network configuration details
Proposed management structure
Curriculum vitae for key personnel
Equipment details

Application Procedure Click Here

Type Approval Procedure

All telecommunication equipment has to be type approved by the Authority. The Authority may also type approve by reference to a type approval certificate issued by another country. For compatibility the Authority prefers type approval certificate from ITU region 1.

For type approval the applicants are required to complete the type approval application form.

Radio Licensing Procedure

All radio transmitters require a radio licence according to the Telecommunication Act. For all new applications for radio licence, applicants firstly have to apply for frequency before submitting the equipment details for licensing. All radio licences are annual.

For frequency application for land mobile the Applicant must submit the following information:

Contact details, including contact details, telephones, facsimile
Intended area of operation
Preferred frequency band (HF, VHF or UHF)
Number of radios, which will the frequency
Equipment location - geographical coordinates, plot number and street names.
Transmit power of the repeaters and base stations
Types of antennae

Normally the communication for two-way radios operating in the VHF/UHF band is limited to the coverage area of around 40 Km. Frequencies may be shared with between licensees. Radio equipment shall not be connected to the public telecommunication network.

After the applicant has been issued with the frequency, he will be required to complete radio licence application form (link to application form)

Radio Dealer Licensing Procedure

All radio suppliers have to apply for licence. The application should include the following information:

Particulars of the applicant
Technical information - to prove that the applicant has sufficient technical experience and capability
Financial information - to prove applicant has the financial capacity to be a dealer.

Downloadable Documents

	Radio Licence Fees (94.9Kb)
	Television and Broadcasting Fees (77.4Kb)
	Type Approval Application Fees (81.9Kb)
	Application form for Private or Public Broadcasters.pdf

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