Eswatini (Swaziland) Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Publication Date: April 2024

Report Pages: 101

Lead Analyst: Henry Lancaster

Contributing Analyst: Peter Lange

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Government of Eswatini introduces a National Cybersecurity Strategy

Eswatini (or eSwatini) was one of the last countries in the world to open up its telecom market to competition. Until 2011 the state-owned Eswatini Posts and Telecommunications also acted as the industry regulator and had a stake in the country’s sole mobile network, in an uneasy partnership with MTN Eswatini.

A new independent regulatory authority was established in late 2013 and has since embarked on significant changes to the sector. Eswatini Telecom was provided with a unified licence in early 2016, while MTN Eswatini secured spectrum in the 1800MHz band to provide LTE services. Eswatini Mobile has launched GSM, 3G and LTE services, supported by a network sharing agreement with MTN Eswatini.

Mobile market penetration has been affected by the common use among subscribers of taking SIM cards from different networks in order to access cheaper on-net calls. Subscriber growth has slowed in recent years, but was expected to have reached 8% in 2021, as people adapted to the changing needs for connectivity caused by the pandemic.

The internet sector has been open to competition with a small number of licensed ISPs. Although DSL services were introduced in 2008, development of the sector has been hampered by the limited fixed-line infrastructure and by a lack of competition in the access and backbone networks.

Eswatini is landlocked and so depends on neighbouring countries for international bandwidth. This has meant that access pricing is relatively high, and market penetration remains relatively low. However, prices have fallen recently in line with greater bandwidth availability resulting from several new submarine cable systems which have reached the region in recent years. In addition, Paratus in September 2020 completed a terrestrial cable linking Mozambique with Eswatini and South Africa.

Recognising that increasing digitalisation and access to internet has made more of the country’s population vulnerable to technology-related crimes, the government of Eswatini has implemented its National Cybersecurity Strategy which runs until 2025.

Key developments:

MTN Eswatini consolidates dominance in the mobile market, expands LTE service reach, reduces the cost of monthly data bundles;
Government develops National Cybersecurity Strategy running to 2025;
Regulator imposes sliding scale reduction in call termination rates through to 2023, introduces the Fixed Services Band Plan;
Paratus completes 750km terrestrial cable linking Maputo through Eswatini to Johannesburg;
Regulator revokes previous decision to require Eswatini Post and Telecommunications Corporation to divest its ownership in MTN;
Mbabane Internet Exchange Point (MB-IX) is opened to route local traffic;
Report update includes operator data to Q1 2022, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, regulator’s market report to March 2021, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Eswatini Posts & Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC), MTN Eswatini, Africa Online, Posix, Real Image, Viettel, Eswatini Mobile

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

Regulatory authority
Fixed line developments

Market liberalisation
Call termination
Fixed Terrestrial Services Band Plan 2022

Mobile network developments

Second mobile licence
SIM card registration

Mobile market

Market analysis
Mobile statistics

Mobile broadband

Mobile infrastructure

5G
4G (LTE)
3G

Mobile network operators

MTN Eswatini
EPTC
Eswatini Mobile

Mobile content and applications

m-banking

Fixed-line broadband market

Introduction and statistical overview

Broadband statistics
Eswatini Internet Exchange Point
Public internet access locations

Fixed-line broadband technologies

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

Digital Economy

E-banking
E-health
CYBERSECURITY

Fixed network operator
Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network
International infrastructure

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Eswatini – 2022 (e)
Table 2 – Change in telecom revenue by type (SZL million) – 2018 – 2021
Table 3 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 4 – Change in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 5 – Change in the number of MTN Eswatini’s subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Table 6 – Development of MTN Eswatini’s financial data (ZAR million) – 2015 – 2021
Table 7 – Fall in MTN Eswatini’s mobile ARPU – 2012 – 2022
Table 8 – Eswatini Mobile subscribers – 2017 – 2019
Table 9 – Change in the proportion of households with internet access – 2012 – 2022
Table 10 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Table 11 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers (regulator data) – 2017 – 2021
Table 12 – Market share of broadband subscribers by operator – 2018 – 2021
Table 13 – Fixed broadband subscribers by operator – 2019 – 2021
Table 14 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Table 15 – Fixed-line subscribers by operator – 2017 – 2021
Table 16 – Increase in international bandwidth – 2012 – 2021
Table 17 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity in Eswatini – 1999 – 2011
Table 18 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate in Eswatini – 1999 – 2011
Table 19 – Historic - MTN Eswatini ARPU – 2001 – 2011
Table 20 – Historic - Internet users and penetration rate in Eswatini – 2000 – 2015
Table 21 – Historic - Proportion of households with internet access – 2007 – 2011
Table 22 – Historic - SPTC financial results (SZL million) – 2004 – 2012
Table 23 – Historic - Growth in the number of broadband subscribers in Eswatini – 2008 – 2011
Table 24 – Historic - Increase in international bandwidth – 2008 – 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 telecom revenue by type – 2018 – 2021
Chart 11 – Change in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 12 – Change in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 13 – Change in the number of MTN Eswatini’s subscribers – 2012 – 2022
Chart 14 – Development of MTN Eswatini’s financial data – 2015 – 2021
Chart 15 – Fall in MTN Eswatini’s mobile ARPU – 2012 – 2022
Chart 16 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers– 2012 – 2022
Chart 17 – Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers (regulator data) – 2017 – 2021
Chart 18 – Market share of broadband subscribers by operator – 2018 – 2021
Chart 19 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Chart 20 – Fixed-line subscribers by operator – 2017 – 2021

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 – Map of Eswatini
Exhibit 7 – Licence concessions by spectrum range
Exhibit 8 – MTN Eswatini licence conditions

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Eswatini (Swaziland) Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

Government of Eswatini introduces a National Cybersecurity Strategy

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