24 Aug 2016

The post is one of the oldest means of communication not only in Botswana but worldwide says Botswana Communications Regulation Authority (BOCRA) CEO Mr Thari Pheko.

Speaking at the occasion of the issuance of long-term licenses to courier and public postal operators, Mr Pheko said that in the recent years this sector had been inundated with numerous challenges as consumers now demand faster and more efficient means of communications.

He said there had been a decline in ordinary mail volumes due largely to electronic communication substitution adding that this phenomenon had put immense pressure on postal operators to continuously look for new revenue streams in order to ensure their survival.

Mr Pheko noted that governments had equally been challenged to come up with reforms that sought to promote efficiency and universality in the provision of postal services.

“It is against this backdrop that the government of Botswana passed the Communication Regulatory Act in 2012 which provides for the regulation of all communication services including telecommunications, Internet, postal and broadcasting services,” he said.

The journey to regulate postal services in Botswana started in earnest in April 2013 and he said they had made great strides so far and within the past two years BOCRA had put in place the necessary structures and key instruments essential for the regulations of postal services.

He said that the authority had  been able to bring together the postal operators and inform them of their obligations under the law as well as to establish a good working relationship with the industry.

“To date, about 20 courier and express companies have been issued with interim licenses and Botswana Post has been designated as a public postal operator charged with the responsibility to ensure provision of universal postal services throughout Botswana,” he said.

Mr Pheko observed that during the last financial year, BOCRA commissioned a market study of the postal sector in Botswana in order to assess the state of the sector in terms of competition, availability of services, quality of service, pricing of services and others.

He said that based on the study, BOCRA came up with the a tailor made licensing framework for the postal sector and this process was concluded by consultative meetings and bilateral interactions as BOCRA complied information on operations of individual market players.

He said that Botswana Post faced a mammoth task of ensuring that there was postal services at every corner of the country and yet the institution had to operate on commercial basis. This, he said was despite the fact that it may not be commercially viable to provide services in far flung areas which were sparsely populated. Ends