Africa’s Mobile Subscription hits 500m

By Eric Sande

Africa’s active mobile subscription has crossed the half a billion mark during the third quarter of 2010. The tally stands at 506 million at the end of September according to a research conducted by Informa Telecoms and Media.

GSM subscribers accounted for 10 per cent of the world’s mobile subscriptions and was one of the world's fastest-growing platforms with the subscription numbers increasing by 18 per cent over the year to September - as a result of demand for new services, such as mobile Internet access, which increased the need for telecoms connectivity.

1985 will be remembered as the year when the first African mobile network went live in Tunisia.

The fibre optic connectivity on both the East and West coasts of Africa over the past 18 months has  given the continent a good level of international connectivity for the first time, and has greatly expanded the opportunities for data services.

"Although the rate of growth in mobile subscriptions in Africa will slow as markets mature, the continent continues to offer great opportunities for investors in the voice segment in under-penetrated markets and also in the non-voice segments with mobile broadband and mobile-money services taking off," says Thecla Mbongue, Johannesburg-based senior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.

According to the report, it is said that by 2015, there will be 265 million mobile broadband subscriptions in Africa mainly expected in East and Central African markets, adding that Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea and Madagascar are expected to witness increase by more than 100 per cent.

This is a huge increase from the current figure of about 12 million, and accounting for 31.5 per cent of the total 842 million mobile subscriptions that the continent will have in five years' time, according to forecasts by Informa Telecoms & Media. There will be almost 360 million users of mobile-money services on the continent by 2014.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest mobile market due to its populous state, accounting for 16 per cent of the continent's mobile subscriptions. Egypt and South Africa are the second and third largest mobile markets on the continent. Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tanzania and Zimbabwe together accounted for 48 per cent of the 54 million net additions to Africa's mobile subscription market over the nine months to September.

Careful prior consideration points on terrestrial backhaul which threatens to become the next bottle-neck, it must be extended if the benefits of the new connectivity are to be made widely available. This, in particular should be made to reach rural communities and countries in the interior of the continent.

The findings indicated just 2.5 per cent rate of household broadband penetration in Africa was in the first quarter of 2010. This signifies a long journey for African broadband if it is to emulate the mobile revolution that has already swept through much of the continent.