Botswanan Startup, One Wireless To “WIFI Blanket” The Entire Country

A telecommunications startup One Wireless is on a mission to provide Botswana with fast speeds, affordable rates, and reliable connectivity

This the startup plans to do by deploying Macro WiFi solutions to “ WiFi Blanket” the country, including cities like Gaborone, Palapye, Francistown, and Maun.

Botswana’s population is 1.8 million and is affected by slow, expensive, unreliable GSM and fixed internet connections. This has deprived the public of affordable and seamless internet connections affecting its growth and opportunities.

Along this line, the wireless technology, also known as ‘Mass Wi-Fi’, will guarantee users fast internet speeds and will be beneficial to the public, IoT and OTT providers, infrastructure, and Saas providers.

This is in reference to an A4AI study held back in 2018 that shows the country’s broadband cost as the highest across Africa. The global average cost of 1GB internet connectivity is US$8.53 while the cost in Botswana is US$14.12. Speedtest.net puts Botswana at number 101 and a dismal 160 for fixed broadband speeds in December.

Thus far, there have been investments in static connections across Botswana majorly focussed on copper, fiber, and other point-to-point. No one has considered a blanket Wi-Fi connection across the city. A few companies have launched hotspots available in airports and malls.