Orange pulls further ahead in telecoms race
Lewanika Timothy | Monday January 12, 2026 06:00
Data from the industry regulator, Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA), showed that amongst the four licensed telecoms operators, market ground is tilting in favour of Orange, which has been steadily increasing its customer base.
The numbers contained in BOCRA’s March 2025 annual report showed that Orange grew its fixed mobile telephone subscriptions from 42% market share to 46% in the year ended March 2025, with a growing customer base and popularity amongst local consumers.
Orange Botswana consolidated its position at the top of the telecoms market after growing its mobile and mobile money subscriber base, whilst competitors lost ground, the report indicates.
The growth in market dominance can be traced partly to the wide adoption of mobile money services, with Orange’s mobile money product known as Orange Money maintaining a market lead of over 70% of market share.
The wide adoption of these services has swelled Orange's customer base and raked in revenues for the company over the past years, even though exact figures are not public as the entity is not public.
“During the review period, Orange continued to dominate the mobile voice and broadband markets due to its competitive pricing and widespread use of the Orange mobile money platform,” BOCRA researchers said.
Orange made gains in the mobile voice segment and mobile broadband segment, controlling 50% market share in the latter. The mobile broadband has been a growing portfolio over the years, which focuses on internet access provided through a mobile phone network, allowing users to go online using a SIM card on a phone, router, or modem.
“In the mobile voice market, Orange had 46% market share, followed by Mascom with a 40% market share, and BTC with a 14% market share.
“In the mobile broadband market, Orange was dominant with a 50% market share, followed by Mascom with a 43% market share, and BTC with a seven percent market share,” BOCRA researchers found.
Last year, Orange made sweeping changes to its data cost tariffs when the regulator approved a tariff overhaul, one of the most extensive in recent years, following recommendations from a pricing and costing study completed in May 2025.
The price drop offered significant reductions in daily and short-term bundles, categories heavily used by students, gig-economy workers, and low-income earners who buy data in small, frequent bursts. Orange’s 100MB daily bundle now costs P2, down from P5, a 60% drop that makes it one of the cheapest short-term bundles in the market.
The cost of data has become a huge factor for many consumers since it directly affects how people access the internet for work, banking, and communication. When data is expensive, individuals and small businesses spend more of their income just to stay connected, which can slow economic activity, limit digital inclusion, and widen the digital divide between those with reliable internet and those without.
Despite Orange’s growing market share, the regulator noted declining levels of customer satisfaction in the industry. Consumers showed dissatisfaction due to the poor quality of service and the persistent slow internet speed that they get from mobile operators.
“Further, the study shows low levels of satisfaction with the quality-of-service delivery by operators and the interventions by the authority to improve the same. “Once the report has been finalised, the authority will devise an action plan to implement recommendations from the survey. “Regular engagements with operators, especially in areas that scored low, will be undertaken,” the regulator said.