Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
IMPORTANT NUMBERS
Country code
267
Area codes
Botswana does not use area codes
International access codes
00
Emergency
999
AC Braby
(
www.brabys.com
)
also has a reasonable online phone directory.
MOBILE PHONES
Botswana has two main mobile (cell) phone networks,
Mascom Wireless
(
www.mascom.bw
)
and
Orange Botswana
(
www.orange.co.bw
)
, of which Mascom is by
far the largest provider. Both providers have dealers where you can buy phones, SIM
cards and top up your credit in most large and medium-sized towns.
The coverage map for these two providers is improving with each passing year, but
when deciding whether or not to get a local SIM card, remember that there's simply no
mobile coverage across large swaths of the country (including much of the Kalahari and
Okavango Delta). That said, the main highway system is generally covered.
Most Botswana mobile numbers begin with 071 or 072.
PHONECARDS
Telephone booths can be used for local, domestic and international calls, and can be found
in and outside all BTC offices, outside all post offices and around all shopping centres and
malls. Blue booths (with the English and Setswana words 'coin' and
madi
) take coins,
and the green booths (with the words 'card' and
karata
) use phonecards.
Phonecards can be bought at BTC offices, post offices and some small grocery shops.
Local and long-distance telephone calls can also be made from private telephone agencies,
often called 'phone shops'.
