BTC Sets October Target for 5G Commercial Launch in Botswana
The deployment will bring BTC into direct competition with Mascom Wireless and Orange Botswana, which launched commercial 5G services in the country in 2022.
Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) is preparing to enter Botswana’s commercial 5G market, with the operator planning to launch 5G services in selected areas of Gaborone in October.
The company has earmarked more than P240 million (about US$17.8 million) for the 2026/27 financial year to accelerate 5G deployment, expand 4G coverage and increase overall network capacity. The planned investment follows more than P225.5 million (about US$16.7 million) invested in network infrastructure upgrades during the previous financial year.
Following the initial Gaborone rollout, BTC plans to expand its 5G network to other major cities and villages as it works towards broader nationwide coverage.
The deployment will bring BTC into direct competition with Mascom Wireless and Orange Botswana, which launched commercial 5G services in the country in 2022.
Beyond 5G, BTC’s network modernisation programme includes capacity upgrades at 599 mobile sites and the migration of fixed network services from legacy circuit-switched infrastructure to an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)-based platform by December.
The operator is also transitioning legacy copper infrastructure to fibre and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) technologies as part of efforts to improve broadband connectivity.
BTC Chief Executive Officer Jürgen Peschel said the company’s mobile network has undergone significant modernisation, with data services now available across all legacy 2G sites nationwide. Existing data areas have also received capacity increases of up to five times, according to the company.
BTC currently has 97% population coverage for both 2G and 4G, positioning the planned 5G investment as the next phase of its network expansion and technology upgrade strategy.
