Gabon Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Publication Date: April 2024

Report Pages: 124

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Gabon’s government readies to sell a stake in the incumbent telco

Gabon remains one of the wealthiest nations in Africa in terms of GDP per capita, with the economy largely buttressed by oil revenue.

The telecom market was liberalised in 1999 when the government awarded three mobile telephony licences and two ISP licences and established an independent regulatory authority. Moov Gabon (known as Gabon Telecom before a rebranding exercise in January 2021), was privatised in 2007 when Maroc Telecom bought a 51% stake in the operator. In June 2016 Maroc Telecom merged its two business in Gabon, thereby reducing the number of mobile network operators from four to three.

The 2009 entry of USAN (operated by Bintel Group under the brand name Azur) into a competitive market with high penetration triggered a price war that saw falling revenue and profits, forcing the operators to streamline their businesses and to look for new income streams. Following more than a year of delays, a licence to offer 3G mobile broadband services was awarded in late 2011. Azur failed to weather competition and ceased trading in late 2017, encumbered by debts and fined by the regulator for failing to observe its quality of service obligations.

In contrast with the mobile market, Gabon’s fixed-line and internet sectors have remained underdeveloped due to a lack of competition and high prices. The country has sufficient international bandwidth on the SAT-3/WASC/SAFE submarine cable but this facility is monopolised by Moov Gabon. The arrival of the ACE submarine cable, combined with progressing work on the CAB cable, has increased backhaul capacity supporting mobile data traffic, and broke Moov Gabon’s monopoly on international internet traffic.

Key developments:

Gabon Telecom to trial 5G in Libreville;
Airtel Africa to complete sale of its telecom tower business in Gabon to Helios Towers by end-2022;
GVA to launch CanalBox FttP service in Port-Gentil later in 2022;
Moov Gabon and Airtel Gabon renew mobile licences for ten years;
Government commits XAF150 billion in backbone infrastructure work;
Gabon and Congo end mobile roaming charges;
Universal Service project gets underway, aiming to deliver telecom services to 2,700 villages;
Report update includes the regulator’s market data to December 2021, operator data to Q1 2022, assessment of the pandemic on the telecoms sector, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Moov Gabon (Maroc Telecom, Libertis, Gabon Telecom, Telecel Gabon), Airtel Gabon (Zain), Bintel (USAN, Azur), Internet Gabon, Solsi, IBN Corporate

Key statistics
Regional Africa Market Comparison

Market characteristics
Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents
TMI vs GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Country overview
Telecommunications market

Market analysis

Regulatory environment

Historical overview
Regulatory authority
Telecom sector liberalisation
Interconnection
Mobile roaming

Mobile market

Market analysis
Mobile statistics
Mobile data

Mobile broadband
Mobile infrastructure

5G
4G (LTE)
3G
GSM
Other infrastructure developments

Major mobile operators

Airtel Gabon
Moov Gabon (Gabon Telecom)
Télécel Gabon
Azur (USAN, Bintel)

Mobile content and applications

Mobile payments

Fixed-line broadband market

Introduction and statistical overview
Market analysis
Broadband statistics
Fixed-line broadband technologies

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP)
Other fixed broadband services

Digital economy

e-health
e-learning

Fixed network operator

Moov Gabon (Gabon Telecom)

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network
International infrastructure

Submarine
Terrestrial fibre
Satellite

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Gabon – 2022 (e)
Table 2 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 3 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers by subscription type (thousand) – 2012 – 2021
Table 4 – Change in the market share of mobile subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2021
Table 5 – Development of mobile service revenue – 2012 – 2021
Table 6 – Development of mobile service revenue by operator (XAF billion) – 2012 – 2021
Table 7 – Change in mobile ARPU (XAF/month) – 2014 – 2021
Table 8 – Change in the volume of SMS sent – 2014 – 2021
Table 9 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2027
Table 10 – Change in the number of mobile broadband subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2021
Table 11 – Change in the number of mobile base stations by operator – 2017 – 2021
Table 12 – Change in the number of Airtel Gabon’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 13 – Development of Airtel Gabon’s mobile and mobile internet revenue (XAF billion) – 2012 – 2021
Table 14 – Growth in the number of Moov Gabon’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Table 15 – Development of Moov Gabon’s mobile and mobile internet revenue (XAF billion) – 2012 – 2021
Table 16 – Change in the market share of internet subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2021
Table 17 – Growth in the number of fixed-line and mobile internet subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2021
Table 18 – Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 19 – Growth in the number of Moov Gabon’s fixed internet subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 20 – Development of Moov Gabon’s fixed-line revenue – 2012 – 2021
Table 21 – Growth in the number of Moov Gabon’s fixed-line subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Table 22 – Change in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Table 23 – Increase in international internet bandwidth – 2012 – 2020
Table 24 – Historic - Airtel Gabon subscribers – 2002 – 2011
Table 25 – Historic - Libertis subscribers – 2007 – 2011
Table 26 – Historic - Azur subscribers – 2010 – 2017
Table 27 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1999 – 2010
Table 28 – Historic - International bandwidth – 2002 – 2011
Table 29 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1999 – 2011
Table 30 – Historic - Libertis annualised mobile ARPU – 2013 – 2015
Table 31 – Historic - Moov subscribers – 2010 – 2015
Table 32 – Historic - Moov mobile ARPU – 2014 – 2015
Table 33 – Historic - Fixed internet users and penetration – 2000 – 2016
Table 34 – Historic - Fixed-line and mobile internet subscribers and penetration rate – 2002 – 2011
Table 35 – Historic - Fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration – 2003 – 2011
Table 36 – Historic - Gabon Telecom fixed internet subscribers – 2007 – 2011

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Africa Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Leaders
Chart 2 – Africa – Market Leaders global ranking
Chart 3 – Africa Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Challengers
Chart 4 – Africa – Market Challengers global ranking
Chart 5 – Africa Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Emergents
Chart 6 – Africa – Market Emergents global ranking
Chart 7 – Africa – Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
Chart 8 – Africa – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 9 – Africa – Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 10 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 11 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers by subscription type – 2012 – 2021
Chart 12 – Change in the market share of mobile subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2021
Chart 13 – Development of mobile service revenue – 2012 – 2021
Chart 14 – Development of mobile service revenue by operator – 2012 – 2021
Chart 15 – Change in mobile ARPU – 2014 – 2021
Chart 16 – Change in the volume of SMS sent – 2014 – 2021
Chart 17 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2027
Chart 18 – Change in the number of mobile broadband subscribers by operator – 2012 – 2021
Chart 19 – Change in the number of Airtel Gabon’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 20 – Development of Airtel Gabon’s mobile and mobile internet revenue – 2012 – 2021
Chart 21 – Growth in the number of Moov Gabon’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Chart 22 – Development of Moov Gabon’s mobile and mobile internet revenue – 2012 – 2021
Chart 23 – Change in the market share of internet subscribers by operator – 2013 – 2021
Chart 24 – Growth in the number of fixed-line and mobile internet subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2021
Chart 25 – Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 26 – Growth in the number of Gabon Telecom’s fixed internet subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 27 – Development of Moov Gabon’s fixed-line revenue – 2012 – 2021
Chart 28 – Growth in the number of Moov Gabon’s fixed-line subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Chart 29 – Change in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in Africa
Exhibit 2 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 3 – Africa – Market Leaders and market developments
Exhibit 4 – Africa – Market Challengers and market developments
Exhibit 5 – Africa – Market Emergents and market developments
Exhibit 6 – 2Africa landing stations

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Gabon Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Gabon’s government readies to sell a stake in the incumbent telco

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Regional Africa Market Comparison

Country overview

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-line broadband market

Digital economy

Fixed network operator

Telecommunications infrastructure

Appendix – Historic data

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views