Frost & Sullivan: Mobile Operators Reap the Benefits from Infrastructure Investment in Sub Saharan Africa

Frost & Sullivan: Mobile Operators Reap the Benefits from Infrastructure Investment in Sub Saharan Africa PR Newswire CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Oct. 9, 2012 - Decline in retail price to push growth of voice and internet services CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Oct. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadband penetration in African countries is significantly low, with a majority of countries recording penetration levels of less than 5%. This has had a considerable impact on internet usage levels in the region. African countries, however, have experienced a steady uptake of mobile communications and are poised to witness an appreciable growth of mobile, broadband and internet services over the next 4-5 years. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.wireless.frost.com), Sub Saharan African Communications Quantitative Quarterly Tracker Q3 2012, covering key countries in the region, finds that the market had 181.7 million mobile and fixed telephony subscribers and 29.8 million internet subscribers in 2010, and estimates this to reach 266.1 million mobile and fixed telephony subscribers and 77.5 million internet subscribers in 2017. This expansion will be driven primarily by demand and uptake of mobile voice and internet services. "The growth of voice and internet markets in Africa is expected to be driven by a decline in retail price for these services," noted Frost & Sullivan's Information & Communication Technologies Business Unit Leader for Africa, Chantel Lindeman.