Executive summary
Nationwide FttH coverage planned for 2015
This annual report provides a comprehensive overview of trends and developments in Mauritius’s telecommunications market. Subjects covered include:
- Key statistics;
- Market and industry overviews;
- The impact of the global economic crisis;
- Government policies affecting the telecoms industry;
- Market liberalisation and regulatory issues;
- Telecoms operators – privatisation, acquisitions, new licences;
- Major players (fixed, mobile and broadband);
- Infrastructure development, including FttC, FttC;
- Mobile voice and data markets;
- Internet and broadband development, including IPTV, triple play;
- Broadband pricing trends, including 3G mobile;
- Digital media (voice/data, fixed/wireless/mobile).
The island nation of Mauritius sports some of the best telecommunication market indicators in Africa and has been the first with many innovations: Africa’s first cellular system was launched here in 1989, the first commercial 3G mobile service in 2004, the world’s first nationwide WiMAX wireless broadband network in 2005, and one of Africa’s first IPTV services in 2006.
With strong tourism and financial services sectors, Mauritius’s economy is expected to continue growing at more than 4% per year.
The incumbent telco, Mauritius Telecom has been partially privatised and all sectors of the market are open to competition. Served by a modern, digital fixed-line network, two fibre optic submarine cables for international connectivity, three mobile networks, various broadband and other service providers, Mauritius is successfully pursuing a policy to make telecommunications the fifth pillar of its economy and to become a regional telecom hub with Singapore as a role model.
At around 100% penetration, the mobile market is virtually saturated. There are three GSM networks – Orange (Mauritius Telecom in partnership with France Telecom), Emtel (operated by Millicom International) and Mahanagar, a subsidiary of India's MTNL which is also the island's second fixed-line operator using CDMA2000 technology.
The highest growth rates are currently seen in the mobile broadband sector, where HSPA and EV-DO based 3G services are competing with fixed-line DSL and other wireless broadband offerings, including WiMAX. FttC and FttH rollouts are in progress and have already brought 100Mb/s connections to businesses, with nearly nationwide coverage planned for 2015. The landing of a second international submarine fibre optic cable has brought prices down further in a broadband market that was already one of Africa’s most developed.
Market highlights:
- One of the highest levels of market penetration in Africa;
- Third mobile operator switches to GSM, plans to launch 3G in 2012;
- Further price cuts in DSL and mobile broadband;
- Nationwide FttC/FttH coverage planned for 2015;
- Estimates for mobile, fixed-line and internet market to end-2012;
- Mobile market forecast for 2013 and 2016;
- Profiles of major players in all market sectors;
- Pricing comparison of all major broadband services (ADSL, WiMAX, triple play, 3G mobile).
Estimated market penetration rates in Mauritius’s telecoms sector – end 2012
Market
| Penetration rate
|
|---|
Mobile
| 102%
|
Fixed
| 28%
|
Internet
| 29%
|
(Source: BuddeComm based on various sources)
Companies covered in this report:
- Mauritius Telecom (France Telecom, Orange);
- Mahanagar Telephone (Mauritius) Ltd (MTNL);
- Emtel (Millicom);
- Bharat Telecom;
- Network Plus;
- DCL Internet;
- Outremer Telecom.
