Synopsis
While being the world’s most rapidly growing market for mobile telephony and also home to the fastest growing fixed telephony markets in the world, Africa still has the world’s lowest penetration rates. Explosive growth in the mobile sector has meant that by early 2007 mobile users constituted almost 90% of all African telephone subscribers. Overall Internet and broadband penetration is very low due to limited fixed-line infrastructures, but demand is high, and the proliferation of new wireless technologies, including 3G mobile and WiMAX, is expected to deliver a major boost. Huge amounts of foreign investment are flowing into the continent as privatisation and deregulation are progressively being introduced. Overall, Africa offers great opportunities to telecommunication service providers, equipment vendors and investors. This report provides a brief overview of all market sectors and analyses the key developments currently shaping the future of telecommunications on the continent.
