Botswana Telecommunications (BTC) anticipates a tough operating environment on the back of rising local inflation and increasing international commodity prices. The company remains resolute in rolling out its infrastructure investment strategy, specifically to upgrade the mobile network to 4.5G (LTE-A).

BTC Managing Director Anthony Masunga said, “In the short-to-medium term, the economic growth outlook is subdued and we anticipate a tough operating environment.”

The company announced financial year results for the year ended March 2022, which showed a drop in revenue by 2% to P1.3-billion due to lower n voice revenues, mainly offset by growth in the data business.

Despite the challenges Masunga said the company will continue with fibre network upgrades and also renew its VSAT platform. He added that BTC will invest in strategic growth areas, including mobile data and broadband offerings.

These investments are expected to support the company’s multiple digital touchpoints on its website, mobile application, USSD codes and its mobile money platform SMEGA financial services.

“The various technology platforms enable us to connect customers across multiple technologies, products and offerings, thus giving us capability to defend and increase our customer base. We continue to forge strategic partnerships with key stakeholders and believe that we can play an important role in the development of Botswana and in transforming the business landscape.”

The company has established several partnerships with utility companies and service providers to allow easy payments by customers from SMEGA platform.