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Namibia - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Namibia’s telecom regulator approves government ownership of MTC

Although Namibia was slow to introduce competition in the mobile market, with a second operator not licensed until 2006, the market has since seen penetration rates rise to well above the regional average. A new player, Paratus Telecom, has launched LTE services to compete with those offered by MTC, while in late 2017 the regulator licensed Demshi Investment and MTN to provide mobile voice and data services and MVNOs. MTC in late 2017 launched a major infrastructure program aimed at delivering national population coverage by October 2019.

Fixed-line services are still a monopoly of Telecom Namibia, but as a member of the WTO the government plans to open the telecom sector to full competition. As part of this process the government plans to sell a 49% interest in MTC, with 29% to be floated on the Namibian Stock Exchange.

Although Namibia’s internet and broadband sector is reasonably competitive, with a small number of active ISPs, its development was for long held back by high prices for international bandwidth caused by the lack of a direct connection to international submarine fibre optic cables. This changed in 2011 when the WACS cable landed in the country. International cable services were launched in May 2012. In parallel, Namibia is diversifying its transit access routes via adjacent countries.

The country’s growth in broadband services has been helped by developments with 3G and LTE network rollouts, as well as by investments in national fibre backbone infrastructure. Several WiMAX and other wireless broadband services offer additional access options and are standing by to bring additional competition to the voice market as well, once internet telephony is deregulated.

Key developments:

  • Telecom Namibia deploys more WiMAX base stations; MTC triples mobile data speeds with launch of LTE-A technology;
  • MTC launched N$1 billion network expansion project, dubbed 081Every1;
  • Telecom regulator holds workshop on implementing 5G in Namibia;
  • Nimbus Infrastructure completes the Trans-Kalahari Fibre (TKF) cable;
  • Paratus Telecom transitions from WiMAX to LTE, plans N$150 million infrastructure investment through to 2021;
  • MTC launches fibre broadband service;
  • Exclusive Gateway Networks proposes building a Single Telecoms Gateway to manage all voice and data traffic;
  • Report update includes the regulator’s market data to December 2018, operator data for fiscal 2017, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Telecom Namibia; Mobile Telecommunications (MTC); Cell One (Leo, Orascom); Powercom; MTN Business Namibia; MWEB Namibia; Africa Online Namibia; Internet Technologies Namibia; iWay.

Table of Contents

  • Key statistics

  • Country overview

  • Telecommunications market

    • Market analysis

  • Regional Africa Market Comparison

    • TMI vs GDP
    • Mobile and mobile broadband
    • Fixed and mobile broadband

  • Regulatory environment

    • Regulatory authorities
      • Ministerial Communications Division
      • CRAN (formerly NCC)
    • Communications Act 2009
    • Telecom sector liberalisation
    • International gateways
    • Interconnection
    • Number Portability (NP)
    • Infrastructure sharing
    • Universal Service

  • Fixed-network operator

    • Telecom Namibia (TN)

  • Telecommunications infrastructure

    • National fibre backbone networks
    • Next-Generation Network (NGN)
    • International infrastructure
      • Submarine cables

  • Fixed-line broadband market

    • Introduction and statistical overview
    • Broadband statistics
    • Fixed-line broadband technologies
      • Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
      • Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks
      • Other fixed-line broadband services

  • Digital economy

    • E-commerce
    • E-government

  • Mobile market

    • Market analysis
    • Mobile statistics
    • Mobile data
    • Mobile broadband
    • Regulatory issues
      • Licensing
      • Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs)
    • Mobile infrastructure
      • 5G
      • 4G (LTE)
      • 3G
    • Other infrastructure developments
      • GPRS/EDGE
      • HSPA
      • Satellite mobile
    • Major mobile operators
      • MTC
      • Telecom Namibia Mobile (Cell One, Leo)
      • Paratus Telecom
      • MVNOs
    • Mobile content and applications
      • Mobile banking

  • Related reports


List of Tables

  • Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – Namibia – 2018 (e)
  • Table 2 – Telecom sector revenue ($) – 2007 – 2016
  • Table 3 – Telecom sector revenue (N$) – 2007 – 2016
  • Table 4 – Fixed and mobile incoming traffic – 2013 – 2018
  • Table 6 – Telecom Namibia financial data – 2007 – 2017
  • Table 7 – Telecom Namibia connections by type – 2013 – 2017
  • Table 8 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 – 2009
  • Table 9 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2010 – 2018
  • Table 10 – Telecom Namibia switching capacity – 2009 – 2015; 2017
  • Table 11 – International internet bandwidth – 2003 – 2016
  • Table 12 – Internet bandwidth per subscriber – 2003 – 2016
  • Table 13 – Historic - Internet users and penetration rate – 1996 – 2009
  • Table 14 – Internet users and penetration rate – 2010 – 2018
  • Table 15 – Fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration – 2005 – 2018
  • Table 16 – DSL broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2018
  • Table 17 – DSL connections by data rate – 2013 – 2016
  • Table 18 – Telecom Namibia fixed broadband subscribers – 2013 – 2017
  • Table 19 – Fixed-wireless broadband subscribers – 2013 – 2016
  • Table 20 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1995 – 2009
  • Table 21 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 2010 – 2018
  • Table 22 – Mobile prepaid and contract subscribers – 2013 – 2016
  • Table 23 – SMS messages sent – 2009 – 2018
  • Table 24 – Active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2018
  • Table 25 – Mobile broadband subscribers (regulator data) – 2009 – 2018
  • Table 26 – Dedicated and standard mobile broadband subscribers – 2009 – 2016
  • Table 27 – Historic - Mobile Termination Rates – 2008 – 2013
  • Table 28 – MTC mobile subscribers – 2005 – 2016
  • Table 29 – MTC mobile financial data – 2005 – 2017
  • Table 30 – Telecom Namibia mobile subscribers – 2015 – 2017

List of Charts

  • Chart 1 – Overall Africa view - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita – 2018
  • Chart 2 – Southern Africa - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita – 2018
  • Chart 3 – Africa – Top-tier Telecoms Maturity Index (Market Leaders) – 2018
  • Chart 4 – Southern Africa –Telecoms Maturity Index by country – 2018
  • Chart 5 – Southern Africa mobile subscriber penetration versus mobile broadband penetration – 2018
  • Chart 6 – Southern Africa fixed and mobile penetration rates – 2018
  • Chart 7 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2005 – 2018
  • Chart 8 – Internet users and penetration rate – 2005 – 2018
  • Chart 9 – Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 2005 – 2018
  • Chart 10 – MTC mobile financial data – 2005 – 2017

List of Exhibits

  • Exhibit 1 – Map of Namibia
  • Exhibit 2 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
  • Exhibit 3 – Southern Africa - Key Characteristics of Telecoms Markets by Country

Related Reports

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Focus Report Profile

Technologies

Broadband Fixed
Companies (Major Players)
Digital Media
Internet
Mobile & Wireless Broadband and Media
Mobile Communications (voice and infrastructure)
Regulations & Government Policies
Strategies & Analyses (Industry & Markets)
Telecoms Infrastructure

Number of pages 83

Status Current

Last updated 1 Apr 2019
Update History

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Paul, Many thanks for your inputs yesterday. You provided a compelling different perspective to our traditional infrastructure focus and this is valuable for our future planning. I also had very favourable feedback from our participants on your involvement.

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