The landlocked country of Botswana is home to just over 2 million people. Very flat, with 70 percent of the country in desert, Botswana also has diverse areas of wildlife habitat, grasslands, savannahs and is an extremely popular tourist destination due to its wealth of wildlife. Since becoming independent, Botswana has experienced one of the fastest growth rates of any country in the world. It has been transformed from a least developed country to a middle-income one and is wisely diversifying its economy from its main export – diamonds – to other industries such as science and technology. It is believed that Botswana’s diamond reserve will soon run dry, but the country also exports other resources such as gold, copper and uranium.
Botswana has a liberalised telecommunications market. Mobile usage is amongst the highest in Africa at 176 percent penetration. The amount of Internet users has also surged just recently, taking the penetration rate up to 21.4 percent. This is largely down to the fact that that Botswana has been able to tap into submarine cable access via other countries, which has brought down the cost of Internet access. Still, the broadband sector does remain underdeveloped and, as a landlocked country, the benefits of satellite, especially VSAT networks, can easily be seen for Botswana.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic presents a huge challenge, especially in rural areas of Botswana. This is another area where the use of satellite technology can help significantly. Telemedicine and health education projects are linking rural clinics and hospitals to provide consultations to people who would otherwise have to travel large distances to the nearest town or city. VSAT networks can enable this vital contact with health professionals and can also deliver information to people at risk of disease and other health issues.
Wealth of Tourist Destinations
Tourism plays a very important part in the Botswanan economy. Tourists flock to the Moremi Game Reserve and the Chobe National Park to see the varied wildlife that lives there, including the world’s largest concentration of African elephants at Chobe. VSAT connectivity can help to link these remote reserves and provide a wealth of applications, making it easier for tourists and the people that work there to stay connected. Today, tourists want, and expect, broadband access no matter where they are holidaying. The deployment of a VSAT provides this connectivity with no infrastructure required thus enabling safari lodge owners and hoteliers to deliver a connected experience to guests. Through VSAT connectivity, they can also make their lives easier too, using the many applications available to promote their business and to enhance daily operations.
Using BusinessCom Networks’ Sentinel tool, both healthcare providers and those engaged in Botswana’s tourism sector or mining industry can gain from taking control of their VSAT network. For those in the healthcare sector, where reliability and performance is key, Sentinel enables bandwidth management and Quality of Service for mission critical networks, giving peace of mind that your communications are taken care of.
BusinessCom offers the following satellite internet services in Botswana:
- Broadband Internet access
- Toll quality VoIP and Videoconferencing with CIR
- Reliable SLA through FDMA and D-TDMA with 98% efficiency on payload
- Star, Mesh and hybrid Star/Mesh topology networks
- Full support of accelerated VPN, CITRIX, ERM and other business applications
- Highly secure operation with optional AES embedded encryption
- Global C-Band coverage and sub-Sahara Ku-Band
- Landing at top tier redundant IP facilities in Western Europe and United States
- Sentinel-based QoS, bandwidth management and optimization platform
