Technology Park gets first tenant
Keikantse Lesemela | Monday July 14, 2014 15:57
Speaking at the signing ceremony last week, BIH Chief Executive, Allan Boshwaen said an Australian Company, ConceroTel (Pty) Ltd, which is a joint venture with Decibel Enterprises Botswana, will establish a new satellite communications hub facility, data and network operations centre at the Park.
The company will also establish a small video conferencing facility for high quality access to Gaborone based SME’s.
“This is the first private sector development step because we are always looking at development from the government side. This company has a special capacity because they are going to twin our facility in Botswana with the ones in Australia and it will operate 24 hours,” said Boshwaen.
He explained that the satellite connection is an alternative to remote areas in countries, which have vast land like Botswana.
He said BIH acts as a catalyst in the development of the ICT industry and creation of an innovation-supporting ecosystem.
“The signing of this lease agreement further signals a milestone in the Botswana Innovation Hub specialised real estate product and service offering for companies that wish to set up at the Park, “ he said.
The company aims to deliver low-cost, high availability ICT access services to bridge the digital divide in Botswana and launch into Sub-Saharan Africa. It offers satellite solutions that expand on existing terrestrial technologies such as fibre-optic, copper and wireless technologies, which enable rapid deployment for rural and remote access. ConceroTel Spokesperson, Thuli Ntsatsi said the equipment for setting up the satellite centre is scheduled to be installed by August 31 while testing and live deployment of first services available to customers will be done in September this year.
“The network operations centre will be twinned with their Australian sister company’s facility to exploit time differences for 24 hours managed network support. This support is useful to customers such as mining companies and banks, whose services run around the clock,” said Ntsatsi.
BIH has registered with the International Association of Science and Technology Parks (IASP), to drive growth, internationalisation and effectiveness of its members.