17 Mar 2020

Parliament has been informed that the mobile data prices in Botswana are comparable with data prices of countries with similar economic status.

In his response to a parliamentary question, the Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr Thulaganyo Segokgo stated that as from November 2019, 1 Giga Bit prepaid data bundle in Namibia costed US$9.51, in South Africa it costed US$10.19 while in Botswana the most expensive operator 1 Giga Bit service costed US$ 10.92 and the cheapest was US$6 82.

Mr Segokgo said in case of Mozambique, their lowest cost for 1GB is US$1.04.

He however explained that in relation with other countries with lower purchasing power parity and lower gross national income such as Mozambique, the data prices dollar to dollar looked relatively high.

The minister stated that pricing of mobile communications services including data services was determined on a cost-based principle.

The regulator, Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority periodically conducts cost model and pricing studies to determine the underlying costs of providing mobile services.

A cost model and pricing study, he explained, was done in 2017 and it led to various initiatives to reduce prices of data services in Botswana.

Mr Segokgo highlighted that the study found that the major component for provision of mobile services was largely attributable to deployment of extensive broadband capable network infrastructure in rural areas.

He pointed out that other factors that caused high cost of deployment leading to high consumer prices included low population density, transit costs and equipment costs.

Regarding the Fair Usage Policy (FUP), Mr Segokgo said it was being implemented by mobile operators, ‘where a subscriber who reaches a specified level of usage in a day is barred from using any more data for that particular day until the next day.’

FUP, he further explained, was applicable to data packages that consumed a lot of bandwidth or were bandwidth hungry such as social media packages.

“Consumers are therefore encouraged to make time to appreciate terms and conditions for alternative data packages in order to choose those packages that will best serve their needs,” he said.

He further explained that BOCRA mandated all operators to disclose and educate their customers on the terms and conditions of their products and services. 

When approving introduction of new products, BOCRA directs mobile operators to be transparent with terms and conditions such as FUP, he added.

The Member of Parliament for Nkange, Dr Never Tshabang had wanted the minister to explain the high-sky prices of phone data usage and also to state reasons for stopping customers from using their phones or mobile data which they bought for a particular duration on the basis of Fair Usage Policy.

Dr Tshabang also asked if the FUP had been explained to customers by BOCRA. Ends