Since the mid-1990s, Botswana has pursued a policy of telecommunications liberalisation. This article, based on fieldwork conducted in Botswana in the summer of 2000, analyzes several notable aspects of the process of reform and denotes those worthy of emulation by other African states. The participation and protection of domestic telecommunication users, transparency in decision-making, the creation of an independent regulatory agency, and the introduction of competition in the form of private cellular service providers are among those policy features that are recommended for replication. Various facets of the tendering process and subsequent licences granted to the mobile operators as well as recent legislation are also examined and commended.
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