BTC plans October 5G launch in Gaborone with BWP240m spend

TL;DR: Botswana Telecommunications Corporation said in its 2026 Integrated Report that it plans to launch 5G in Gaborone in October as part of a BWP240 million (US$17.8 million) network investment for the 2026/27 financial year.

Botswana Telecommunications Corporation said in its 2026 Integrated Report, released on Monday, that it will launch 5G in strategic areas of Gaborone in October. The state-owned operator said the rollout will start in the capital and then expand to other cities and key villages in Botswana.

BTC said it will spend BWP240 million (US$17.8 million) in the 2026/27 financial year on network modernisation, including faster 5G deployment, wider 4G coverage, and higher network capacity. The amount is above the BWP225.5 million the operator spent on network modernisation and coverage expansion in the previous financial year.

BTC said that by the October launch it also plans to upgrade capacity at 599 mobile sites and migrate fixed-line customers from copper to fibre and fixed wireless access. The operator also said it will complete migration of fixed network services from legacy circuit-switched infrastructure to an IMS-based platform in December 2026.

BTC said its mobile network now covers 97% of the population with 2G and 4G and 62% with 3G. BTC, which is 51% government owned, will be the last of Botswana's three mobile operators to launch 5G after Mascom Wireless and Orange Botswana both launched commercial 5G services in 2022.