Fixed telephones decline

The number of fixed telephone subscriptions active in the country has fallen by more than 50,000 or 36% since the onset of COVID-19, with more consumers taking up mobile and digital technologies. Statistics Botswana figures released recently indicate that while fixed telephone subscriptions dropped from 140,055 in the second quarter of 2020 to 89,487 in the second quarter of 2022, mobile subscriptions have been powering forward through that period. Over the same time frame, the total number of pre and post-paid mobile subscriptions rose from 3.75 million to 4.27 million. The growth in mobile comes despite concerns that the market was reaching maturity and experiencing ‘natural churn’ or a gradual reduction in the number of customers it had. The slowdown in numbers became evident between 2016 and 2018 when successive quarters indicated lower numbers of mobile subscriptions amongst the country’s three service providers. The pandemic appears to have resuscitated the situation, as restrictions forced consumers to work remotely and depend more on the various services associated with mobile phone subscriptions. Statistics Botswana figures also indicate total internet subscriptions in the country rose from 2.1 million in the second quarter of 2020 to 2.6 million in the second quarter of this year. The subscriptions refer to both mobile and ADSL/ fixed wireless, with the latter recording a greater increase over the period.