Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) said the initiative brings together Botswana, Malawi, Lesotho, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe under the One Network Area (ONA) framework, which aims to harmonise roaming tariffs and make telecom services more affordable across borders.
Under the arrangement, telecom operators have lowered roaming tariffs for voice calls, SMS and mobile data when customers travel between participating countries. BOCRA said the reductions range between 10% and 98.6%, depending on the service.
Regulators say the reforms place particular emphasis on reducing the cost of mobile data, reflecting its growing importance for digital services, online commerce and financial inclusion across Africa.
Major telecom operators involved in the initiative include Orange Botswana, Mascom Wireless and Botswana Telecommunications Corporation, alongside regional players such as MTN Group, Vodacom Group, Airtel Africa and Econet Wireless.
In some cases, the cuts are steep. Roaming data rates between Botswana and Zambia, for example, have been reduced by up to 94%, while receiving SMS messages is now free across all participating countries.
The initiative builds on an earlier roaming agreement between Botswana and Namibia, which became the first countries within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to introduce reduced and harmonised roaming rates in August 2024.
Regional policymakers say lowering telecom costs could help boost cross-border trade, business travel and digital services across Southern Africa, where mobile networks are often the primary gateway to the internet.
The effort mirrors a similar initiative by the East African Community, which introduced its own One Network Area programme across countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda more than a decade ago to reduce roaming costs and encourage regional trade.
SADC regulators say the southern African programme is expected to expand gradually to other member states as governments push to build a more integrated regional digital market.
