Bots will soon have drones patrolling telcom infrastructure

The country’s three leading telecommunications companies have lamented the financial dire straits emanating from the soaring maintenance costs that culminate from copper and fibre cable theft.

Last week, during a quality of service fora organised by Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA), representatives from mobile giants Mascom, BTC and Orange informed the regulator that copper and fibre vandalism and theft have morphed into a national crisis that is eating heavily into their pockets.

Communications Engineer at BOCRA, Lebang Kesiametswe, revealed that BOCRA is going to partner with security organs to introduce drone patrols at all network major sites.

This, he said, will ensure the protection of on-site batteries, generators and copper cables used in network transmission lines.

“There has been a surge in theft of copper and fiber technology and we are partnering with security organs to introduce drone surveillance in the area to curb this high crime rates” Kesiametswe added.

Mobile operators have always decried that theft and vandalism of network infrastructure affected the quality of service they can offer to their customers also noting increased maintenance costs related to fixing damaged infrastructure.

Copper cable theft has become a prevalent problem in Botswana, causing significant disruptions to telecommunication services and resulting in substantial financial losses for service providers and customers alike.

Last year, BTC outlined plans to go ‘copper free’ in some parts of the country following a spate of theft of its copper cables. The affected areas are Gaborone, Orapa, and Jwaneng by the end of the next financial year, in favor of using fibre infrastructure. At one point, the company incurred losses of P29 million from the theft of copper cables.

In the past, BTC Managing Director, Anthony Masunga said they have since intensified efforts and increased their capital budget towards building alternative technologies to replace the copper network investments.

He said at the time that when copper cables were cut and stolen the end result was service disruption meaning customers do not have access to communication, which could put lives at risk.

“Further, damage to BTC infrastructure results in Internet service outage, which in turn affects customers’ ability to transact either online or through the ATM hence denying them the opportunity to buy or pay for services. In essence copper cable theft negatively impacts businesses and their ability to provide service to customers,” Masunga revealed.