500 million Africans use mobile phones

  1. Posted on Sunday 14 November 2010 - 06:28
    Mtheto Lungu
    Image of Mtheto Lungu
    Mtheto Lungu, AfricaNews reporter in Lilongwe, Malawi
    An AfricaCom Daily News research has revealed over 500 million Africans are now subscribed to a mobile phone by the third quarter this year - at end of September. GSM penetration rate in Africa, revealed at a conference in South Africa, stood at 48.35 per cent at the end of September, and some African markets have since passed saturation point.
    mobile phone
    "But penetration in other markets is still less than five per cent, and penetration below ten per cent is typical for rural areas," AfricaCom Daily News reported.

    Conducted by Informa Telecoms and Media, one of the organizers of the ongoing AfricaCom conference in Cape Town, South Africa, the milestone coincided with the 25th anniversary of mobile telephony on the African continent - the first African mobile network went live in 1985 in Tunisia.

    GSM subscribers in the continent accounted for 10 percent of the global subscriber base, with penetration still very low, though it increased by 18 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

    According to the report, over the five years, the strongest growth rates in mobile subscription are expected to be recorded mainly 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 in 2015.

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

    According to findings, the landing of a series of new submarine cables 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.

Reactions

  1. Posted on Monday 12 December 2011 05:02
    businessphoneco
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    3 berichten
    Lid sinds December 2011

    In order for Africa to reach full connectivity, phone lines are not the only lines that need to be laid. As the world is already in the internet age, Africa has to be connected in the world wide web as well.
  2. Posted on Monday 19 December 2011 04:39
    sitelikesDX
    Image of sitelikesDX


    3 berichten
    Lid sinds December 2011

    Communication, makes us closer. Do you agree with me?Not only the phone lines african peple need, but also the web, I believe world wide web will really worldwide soon. online stores
  3. Posted on Monday 30 April 2012 12:25
    bestech
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    7 berichten
    Lid sinds April 2012

    I'm impressed with the quality of your writing.
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