The Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) intends to crack down on operators with unregistered radio communication equipment.

BOCRA spokesperson Aaron Nyelesi added that renewal of the licenses has also been neglected. "All those in possession of radio communication equipment without a valid license, are in contravention of the Communications Regulatory Authority Act No.19 of 2012," he said.

According to the Act, individuals found in contravention will be liable to a fine of not less than P1000.00 but not more than P50 000.00, while corporations will have to pay not less than P10 000.00 and not more than two hundred thousand Pula.

Nyelesi urged those who have failed to renew their radio communication licenses without submitting boarding certificates, to comply and provide BOCRA with the documents.

According to BOCRA radio disposal procedures are not being fully adhered to, including failure by operators to conform to the type approval process governing Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) receiver equipment.

"The type approval process requires that all applications for type approval should be accompanied by sample devices to undergo a technical test for compliance with Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting Terrestrial (ISDB-T) standard," said Nyelesi.

Botswana is the only country in SADC using ISDB-T standard while other countries are deploying different standards ranging from DVB-T; DVB-T2 and DVB-T2 Lite digital migration.