New Type Approval Guidelines for Telecom Equipment in Botswana

                                                                                                                                                                                       

Type approval procedures in Botswana for telecom equipment are regulated by the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA).
BOCRA published recently new guidelines which outline the conditions a
device must meet in order to be approved for use in the country.

Botswana is a relatively small country located inland in southern Africa. It is a well-established democracy with a population of about 2.3 mill and having a strong economy, not least due to rich diamond deposits.

In general, according to the Communications Regulatory Act 2012 (CRA), all telecommunications terminal equipment and all radio equipment (including broadcast equipment and postal equipment) must be registered for type approval. The conformity requirements are basically identical to those in the EU and use of Declaration of Conformity according to EU directive 2014/53/EU. The type of approval process does not require local laboratory testing or contact with local representatives.

Equipment that meets the technical specifications published by BOCRA (or equivalent) and which has been registered with BOCRA, is type approved for the purposes of the Act.

If an equipment type is not appearing in the type of approval database or if there is no applicable technical specification, then BOCRA will decide case-by-case whether type approval should be made and the technical requirements to be applied.

All radio equipment requires a Radio License from BOCRA for use of the radio spectrum. Certain equipment types covered by a general- or class license will not require an individual license for radio spectrum usage if they meet the requirements of the relevant technical specification. All suppliers of radio equipment must also obtain a Dealer License from BOCRA to sell and maintain such equipment.

The guide in full may be downloaded from this site.

For further information and/or application for type approval of telecom equipment in Botswana or other countries worldwide, please contact Tom.Tidwell@nemko.com

(Article is based on text available from various sources on the internet edited by T.Sollie)