Mascom talks digital inclusion

Launching its new application, My Play, last week, Mascom Chief Executive, Jose Couceiro said they have a robust network roll out plan to work towards digital inclusion and empower Batswana through ICT. Committing to this undertaking, Mascom promises a third generation network coverage in all villages with a population size of 5000 people across the country by the end of 2018. Currently there are over 25 villages with 3G network coverage.“It is our target that by the end of 2019, we would have extended 3G coverage to all our sites, countryside, irrespective of the population size of the village or settlement,” said Couceiro. This year Mascom launched a contact centre with an aim to redefine business processes outsourcing as a concept. Couceiro said as Botswana mobile market evolves, they have observed that mobile subscriber growth alone is no longer a major driver for revenue growth but rather the potential for the market is in digital inclusion through access to mobile and fixed broadband. “We commit to continue leading in the area on innovation to ensure that Botswana is part of the global village and that we too can experience fast moving technology, the world of 5G, smart cities, artificial intelligence and the internet of things,” said Couceiro. In 2016 Mascom partnered with Botswana Fibre Network (BOFINET) and government to provide connectivity to all government schools in Botswana and to date 496 public schools are connected with internet. In an effort to encourage local content and improve access to the internet, three years ago, Mascom launched Tsena Botswana Online, which is used to aggregate and create local content. Tsena is accessible for free and at no data costs to all Mascom subscribers. The new My Play application offers extensive catalogue of movies, TV Shows, Documentaries, Music Videos and over 700 movie titles and over 2000 series.