Synopsis
Mobile phones represent around 90% of all telephone lines in Africa. The continent’s mobile market is consistently growing at around 50 to 60% every year. Enormous further potential remains, with market penetration standing at little more than 20%. Due to Africa's poor fixed-line infrastructure, the mobile networks are beginning to play an increasing role in Internet service provision as well, following the launch of third-generation (3G) services in a number of markets – a welcome new revenue stream in an environment of low Average Revenue per User (ARPU) levels. Newly introduced converged licensing regimes have increased the competitive pressure in a number of key markets but also allow the mobile operators to branch out into new service segments.
