The Botswana government is increasing initiatives to accelerate digital transformation and make it a pillar of socio-economic development. The executive is already preparing the country’s transition from IPv4 to IPv6.

The Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) announced on Monday December 11 that it had asked mobile network operators to carry out a verification exercise of mobile subscriber information. The campaign which was launched on September 1, 2023 will continue until March 31, 2024.

The exercise will notably consist of telecom operators ensuring that all their subscribers have registered their SIM cards in accordance with “ the new registration procedures » before the deadline.

Through this initiative, BOCRA wants to strengthen security in the Botswana cyber space in a context of accelerated digital transformation marked not only by the rapid and growing adoption of electronic communications services, but also by the resurgence of cases of fraud using these services.

The telecom subscriber identification campaign is in line with the Botswana government’s ambition to create a smart and sustainable society by digitalizing all sectors of the economy, in line with “Vision 2036”. The executive is currently preparing the country’s transition from IPv4 to IPv6, the latest Internet protocol standard.

As a reminder, Botswana had 4.24 million mobile telephone subscribers, according to BOCRA (March 2022). More recent statistics from data platform DataReportal indicate a mobile subscriber base of 4.28 million individuals for a penetration rate of 161.5%.

Source: Agence Ecofin