Orange Botswana and Opera Software are preparing to launch the Opera Mini web browser to more than one million subscribers to provide cheaper and faster web access for mobile devices in the country.
The majority of the public in Botswana are not able to access the internet with a fixed-line internet connection, thus they turn to mobile.
Through the Opera Mini web browser, internet users in Botswana will have access to a range of Orange portals.
The portals will be accessible through Opera Mini’s “speed dial”, which will be located on the Opera Mini’s homepage.
“The compression ability offered by Opera Mini means we can make far better use of our existing infrastructure while, at the same time, offering a lower cost and far quicker web access to our mobile subscribers,” said Lebogang Moruti, offers and services manager for marketing at Orange Botswana.
“We anticipate our launch of the co-branded Opera Mini will be met with high demand by our customers.”
Opera Software is a Norwegian company and Opera Mini operates on more than 3,000 devices and reportedly compresses data by as much as 90 per cent before it reaches the users. This allows for a “fast and powerful mobile web experience”.
Lars Boilesen, chief executive of Opera Software, said: “Our offering is strong, particularly on basic phones in Botswana.
“We have worked hard as a company to provide a very smart mobile web experience on old handsets. We have already seen strong growth in Botswana over the years, and this new relationship with Orange will see that develop even further.”
