Innovation Hub gets Ericsson boost

Brian Benza
Staff Writer | Friday September 11, 2009 00:00

Ericsson also owns 50 percent of mobile phone manufacturer, Sony Ericsson.
Ericsson Botswana, which has been in the country for over 20 years, is set to be among the first tenants of BIH premises near Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (SKIA) when they are ready for occupation in December 2010.

Speaking in Gaborone on Tuesday, the company's head of marketing responsible for sub-Saharan Africa, Lars Linden, said they are thrilled to be involved in BIH because it will give them the opportunity to be involved in the development of technology in Botswana.

'Although I can't say much about how exactly we will be involved in the Hub, I can confirm that we are going to be among its first tenants and that negotiations are almost complete,' Linden said.

BIH is a concept crafted a few years ago by the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology with a view to attracting researchers and local and foreign investors for technological advancement of the country.

Focus areas identified for the Innovation Hub are ICT, mineral technologies, sustainable energy and biotechnology. The project's infrastructure will cost about P1 billion to put up.

Ericsson, which is involved in the government's Nteletsa programme of taking telecommunication services to rural outreaches, currently provides Botswana's three mobile service providers and BTC with base station and software equipment.

It is also currently involved in the multilateral Seacom and Eassy submarine optic fibre projects in Botswana. 

Ericsson's Chief Financial Officer and First Executive Vice President, Hans Vestberg, who is here on a visit, described Botswana as a very important market for them. 'In the region, we are also heavily involved with mobile and fixed service companies',Vestberg said. 'We control about 50 percent of sub-Saharan Africa's market.'

Vestberg is based at the company's headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. 'Contrary to perceptions in the industry, Africa is a very significant market for us and we have always tried to come up with products that meet demand as Africa develops,' he said. 'This is one of the reasons why we decided to go on a tour of African countries.'

Apart from Africa, Ericsson is in 175 markets across the world and is linked to 350 million mobile subscribers in globally. As part of their social responsibility, Ericsson's Key Account Manager, Ray Jamieson, said the company had donated two telecentres to the Nteletsa programme which will use the BTC network and be operated by an independent franchisee.

The telecentres which cost approximately P100,000 including transportation and duty, are installed with prepaid telephone and Internet facilities.

Nteletsa is a government initiative with the objective of developing communications infrastructure and services to all parts of the country.  The programme is now in its second phase, Nteletsa II, which will see private operators like Mascom and Orange benefit also from the multi-million pula project.

Botswana's telecommnications infrastructure was the exclusive preserve of the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) until liberalisation a few years ago.