Mobility key in continent lacking fixed-phone infrastructure

Tag : Fixed GSM Phone

Africa has become extremely attractive to mobile phone companiesbecause of its sheer potential for growth. As markets in Europe andthe US reach saturation point, competition and regulatory pressurehas forced prices lower, so some of the world's largest players arelooking for new markets in which to expand.
The lack of fixed-line telecoms infrastructure means that for mostAfricans, the only communications service - and increasingly theonly internet connection - they will ever possess is a mobilephone. The combination of low-cost mobile phone handsets and cheaptariffs, including a heavy focus on pay-as-you-go services, hasseen the African mobile phone market bloom.
There are already more than 280 million mobile phone customersacross Africa, according to the GSM Association, and this isforecast to grow to 330 million-plus by the end of the year. Butwith about 950 million inhabitants across the continent there isstill a lot to play for and many of Africa's mobile markets are farfrom fully developed.
While mobile phones may be commonplace in the offshore tax havenand tourist destination of the Seychelles and becoming ever morepopular in South Africa, it will be a very long time before manypeople see, let alone use, a mobile phone in Somalia, Eritrea andEthiopia, where less than 2% have them.
In fact, on pure customer numbers, Nigeria recently overtook SouthAfrica to become the continent's largest mobile phone market, withmore than 45 million customers - up 40% in the past year. But onlyone third of the Nigerian population has a mobile phone, so thereis still great potential for growth. In stark contrast, somewestern European markets, such as Italy and the UK, have mobilepenetration levels above 100%, meaning that some people have morethan one phone.
Orange and Vodafone are both already active in Africa and lookingto expand, while the home-grown operator MTN recently shot into theheadlines as it became the subject of a multibillion-dollar bidfrom India's Reliance Communications.