Single communications regulator on the cards - Ramsden

The proposed regulator is to be called the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA). "We have been working on the necessary legislation, the BOCRA bill, with the Attorney General's Chambers and other key stakeholders," Ramsden told a two-day ICT Pitso in Gaborone last week. The bill seeks to "bring about efficiencies in the telecommunications sector by removing duplicate regulatory agencies (by housing) regulation and licencing under one roof, being BOCRA," Minister Ramsden said.

In essence, BOCRA will take over the regulatory duties of the Botswana Telecommunications Authority (BTA) and the National Broadcasting Board (NBB), the bodies that have been regulating telecommunications and ICT services and broadcasting respectively.   Postal services do not have a regulatory body currently.