Botswana is moving ahead with another commercial 5G deployment while continuing major upgrades across its existing 4G network. The first phase of the new 5G network is planned for selected areas of Gaborone, with commercial service targeted for October 2026. So, now let us look into how Botswana Expands 4G Network as Gaborone Prepares for New 5G Deployment along with User-friendly LTE RF drive test tools in telecom & RF drive test software in telecom and User-friendly Mobile Network Monitoring Tools, Mobile Network Drive Test Tools, Mobile Network Testing Tools in detail.
The technical work is not limited to adding 5G radio sites. Botswana is also increasing mobile network capacity, upgrading existing sites, improving LTE coverage and moving older fixed-network systems towards IP-based infrastructure.
This gives the country a practical network upgrade path where 4G continues to provide wide-area mobile coverage while 5G capacity is introduced in locations with higher data demand.
5G Deployment Starts with Gaborone
Gaborone is the logical starting point for the new 5G deployment because a city environment normally has a higher concentration of mobile users, businesses, offices and data traffic.
Deploying 5G in selected areas first also allows network teams to study actual radio performance before extending coverage to additional cities and villages.
The engineering work for a 5G rollout includes more than installing new radios. Each site needs suitable spectrum, antenna configuration, transmission capacity, power, IP connectivity and integration with the existing mobile core.
Radio parameters also need to be optimised after deployment.
Engineers need to measure 5G coverage and signal conditions using parameters such as SS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ and SS-SINR. Throughput, latency and handover behaviour also need to be checked under different traffic and mobility conditions.
These field measurements help identify weak coverage, interference and capacity problems that may not be visible from network planning data alone.
599 Mobile Sites Are Receiving Capacity Upgrades
One of the larger parts of Botswana’s current network programme is the planned capacity upgrade of 599 mobile sites.
Capacity upgrades become necessary when the number of connected users and the amount of data traffic increase. A site may still provide acceptable RF coverage while users experience lower throughput because the available radio or transmission resources are heavily loaded.
Increasing site capacity can involve additional radio resources, wider bandwidth, antenna changes, improved backhaul and changes to network configuration.
Existing data sites have already received capacity increases of up to five times in some areas.
This work is especially relevant before expanding 5G. A 5G radio layer can provide much higher data rates, but the complete path between the device, radio site, transport network and mobile core must have enough capacity to carry the additional traffic.
4G Remains the Main Coverage Layer
Botswana is continuing to invest in 4G while preparing additional 5G coverage.
During the previous network upgrade phase, 151 sites were moved from 2G to 4G capability. Another 29 sites were added to improve coverage and address network congestion.
The mobile network involved in the latest programme reports 97% population coverage for 4G.
At national level, Botswana’s communications regulator reported 98% 4G population coverage for the 2024/25 reporting period. This means LTE remains a major part of the country’s mobile broadband infrastructure.
4G will continue carrying a large amount of mobile traffic even as 5G coverage increases.
VoLTE and IMS Support the Network Upgrade
Another technical change is the introduction of Voice over LTE.
VoLTE moves mobile voice traffic onto the LTE packet network rather than depending entirely on older circuit-switched mobile systems. This allows voice and mobile data to operate over the same IP-based network architecture.
The fixed network is also being moved from legacy circuit-switched systems to an IP Multimedia Subsystem, or IMS, platform.
IMS provides an IP-based service control architecture that can support services such as voice and multimedia communication.
These changes reduce dependence on older network technologies and create a stronger IP base for later network expansion.
Network Testing Becomes More Important with 4G and 5G Layers
As Botswana adds more 5G coverage while retaining a large 4G network, radio testing will become increasingly important.
A coverage map alone cannot confirm the complete user experience.
Engineers need field measurements to check LTE RSRP, RSRQ and SINR together with 5G SS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ and SS-SINR. They also need to measure download and upload throughput, latency, packet loss, mobility and handovers between network layers.
This becomes especially useful when 5G is introduced into an existing LTE network.
The planned Gaborone deployment therefore represents another stage in Botswana’s mobile network upgrade: increase 4G capacity, modernise existing sites, strengthen the IP network and gradually add 5G where additional radio capacity is required.
About RantCell
RantCell provides smartphone-based tools for testing and monitoring mobile network performance across indoor and outdoor environments. Network teams can measure RF and user experience KPIs, perform drive and walk testing, monitor private 4G/5G networks and analyse measurement data through a central cloud platform.
With 5G networks continuing to develop and early technical work on 6G already underway, network testing will require accurate field data to understand how radio performance translates into actual service performance. RantCell helps engineering teams collect and analyse these measurements using Android-based test devices and cloud-based reporting. Also read similar articles from here.