BOCRA lays Internet connectivity guidelines for hotels
Boitshepo Majube | Friday May 2, 2014 12:08
The guidelines come into effect from June 1, 2014.
“The purpose of these guidelines is to provide a framework that governs the provision of and quality of broadband Internet in the hospitality facilities in Botswana,” BOCRA said. Under the new proposed guidelines, minimum bandwidth capacity will be set for use by hospitality facilities in order to improve quality of service through provision of fast and reliable broadband Internet access.
BOCRA states that the investment by the hospitality sector in broadband connectivity and the setting of broadband Internet capacity requirement by BOCRA, are pursuant to Authority’s Act.
“For broadband internet connection under the new guidelines, hospitality facilities should install legitimate broadband internet connection provided by licensed service providers, and it is also advisable that the service provider should perform the installation of broadband equipment, provisioning and installation of circuits and the general internet support for the facility and guests.
“Employees at the front desk should be trained on basic ICT skills,” BOCRA proposes, adding that help desk function should be provided by the Hospitality Facility.
The regulator proposes that hotels should have the services of back-end knowledgeable information technology technicians who can respond to guests and network faults quickly and efficiently.
“In order to optimise the use of available bandwidth, hospitality facilities should have a bandwidth management solution that helps in redistributing the direct bandwidth from the service providers into different hourly plans in cases where the service provider is not managing the bandwidth on their behalf,” BOCRA proposes of the bandwidth software requirements. Concerning network stability and performance, BOCRA proposes that if the hospitality facility has videoconferencing facilities and conference facilities, they should subscribe for additional bandwidth on demand particularly during events such as conferences and workshops to cater for applications that require high bandwidth.
“Hotels must designate service provider who can provide on-site support, reconfiguration of equipment for specific meetings at conference facilities and other technical support to ensure consistent service.”
The regulator further states that hospitality facilities should always plan upgrade of their circuits when peak utilisations average reach out to around 90 percent which would allow them a few months of growth to arrange for the circuits to be ordered and installed.
On Internet prices, BOCRA proposes that hotel facilities are to design pricing structures that would encourage usage by guests. “International best practice is for hotels to offer internet to guests as complimentary service.”
BOCRA further notes that internet access in business centres, meeting rooms and conference rooms may be charged, while all service providers shall publish in a transparent and conspicuous manner the prices for the different bandwidths offered.
“Hotels with at-least 50 rooms and having a monthly occupancy rate of at least 75% should purchase and use leased lines that provide a dedicated and an uncontended Internet service within the prescribed minimum requirement.”
The regulator also proposes that all service providers should upgrade their networks to be able to carry the required bandwidth.
“High-speed Internet access should be universally accessible across the hospitality facility i.e. 100% of the rooms, lobby, poolside, gym, restaurant, business centre etc. Access points and hot spots should be well positioned to guarantee acceptable signal strength.”
BOCRA adds that service providers should extend their network coverage to afford hotels easy connection to the telecommunications grid.
The regulator states that the hospitality facility should request for network-monitoring tools from the Service Provider to monitor the broadband Internet received compared to the broadband subscribed to.