The call by Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) for the country's hospitality industry to offer Internet access is not legally binding and there are no penalties for properties that do not comply.
A spokesperson from BOCRA told Tourism Update the guidelines were there to encourage hospitality facilities to adhere to the need for online access following complaints from international visitors that Internet access in the country was poor. The guidelines call on hospitality facilities to meet minimum Internet bandwidth requirements by August 1, 2015. According to BOCRA, after this date, the guidelines will be reviewed and facilities will be inspected. Only then will a decision will be made on whether to make the guidelines legally binding and enforce them. BOCRA said the review would happen over a period of a year.
One accommodation provider told Tourism Update that, although they offered free WiFi, they didn’t comply with the guidelines, something that would drastically increase operational costs.
“From an industry perspective, the guidelines are good and, for the most part, practical. They encompass the majority of service areas and I think are a good idea,” the provider said. “However the commercial viability of providing free, universal access in all areas for the larger hotels could possibly be challenged.”
Chris Roche, Chief Marketing Officer at Wilderness Safaris, said: “We do not as a general rule provide Internet access to guests in our camps. We believe that it is a genuine USP (unique selling point) to be able to disconnect from the modern world and thus reconnect with nature, yourself and your family.” Roche said Internet access was available to guests who requested it.
Nigel Frost, IT Consultant at Africa Albida said: “Currently Ngoma Safari Lodge provides guests with complimentary WiFi Internet access in shared guest areas and is in the process of expanding coverage to include all guest rooms.”
BOCRA said it was consulting with the Botswana Tourism Organisation to create a standard where non-compliance with the guidelines would affect the hospitality ranking of a property. However, whether this would be implemented was not known.
BTO could not be reached for comment at the time of publication
