MAP > Internet Providers in Lesotho

The Telecom services in Lesotho have been managed by the privatized national operator, the Econet Telecom Lesotho, (ETL). Mobile sector has been a duopoly between the South African based Vodacom as well as the ETL, though the competition has been insufficient in being able to promote regional average while the small size of market offers the little incentive for the new entrants.

The fixed-line teledensity has also been low but fixed network has been able to gain value since the DSL services got to be launched in the year 2007. In parallel, the ETL has been able to roll out a fixed wireless network. Also, this company has been able to introduce the fixed mobile convergence product, and it has been capitalizing on the multi-platform capabilities.

Well, Vodacom became the first operator to be able to introduce the mobile broadband services in this country, being supplemented with the WiMAX network. In late 2014, this company was able to launch the commercial services based on the LTE technology. This got to be followed by the fixed wireless 5G trial in the early 2019 based on the trial of the 3.5GHz license. Vodacom Lesotho has been among first network operators in this region to be able to conduct such trials.

Despite being landlocked, Lesotho has been able to benefit from the connectivity to the various submarine fiber optic cables that land on the African east as well as the West coasts. These have heavily improved the international bandwidth, though the access prices for the 2 ISPs have remained very high and as a result, the internet takes up among most of the consumers have been stymied.

Some of the key developments in this report include:

- Report update includes the ITU statistics, the regulator’s 2017, well detailed ICT market report, the operator data to Q4 2018 as well as the recent market developments.
- The beginning of trials of the 5G by the Vodacom Lesotho.
- Expansion of the FttP network by the ETL.
- Launching of the M-health services that is facilitated by the M-Pesa, by the Vodacom Foundation.
- Enhanced internet connectivity and this is following the landing of the international cables.
- The Universal Service Agency expanding the base tower infrastructure in the remote areas.
- The regulator has been considering the possibility of imposing the SIM card registration.
- Some of the companies that have greatly been mentioned in this report do include Comment, Econet Ezi-Cel, Vodacom and Telecom Lesotho.