THE telecommunications sector is once again at the top in the Sake24 and BoE Private Clients' provincial barometers.
Thanks to the tremendous growth in internet access through, inter alia, cellphones, this is a red hot sector.
According to Economists.co.za economist Mike Schüssler, this index rose 26% year-on-year. “At times the growth even exceeded 30%.”
Schüssler said fixed-line phone chats were 7% shorter, but the number of cellphone minutes increased by a significant 24.6%. The number of people visiting web pages rose by 17.4% compared with the year before.
“It’s certainly a success story, thanks to improvements in technology,” said Schüssler. “Ten years ago you were unable to browse the internet on your cellphone. Today it's one of the principal ways of examining web pages.”
In his view, the big growth in the sector is also being driven by tablet computers and the undersea cables that are enlarging South Africa's broadband capacity.
Schüssler however expects the tremendous growth in this sector to slow down somewhat.
“The cellphone market has long been saturated, with more than 100% cellphone ownership.”
The sector will however continue to show double-digit growth for the next couple of quarters. He reckons the growth will now be proportionate to the increasing speed of internet access, and as people use the internet access for more and more purposes. “This sector is where the growth lies,” he said.
Thanks to the tremendous growth in internet access through, inter alia, cellphones, this is a red hot sector.
According to Economists.co.za economist Mike Schüssler, this index rose 26% year-on-year. “At times the growth even exceeded 30%.”
Schüssler said fixed-line phone chats were 7% shorter, but the number of cellphone minutes increased by a significant 24.6%. The number of people visiting web pages rose by 17.4% compared with the year before.
“It’s certainly a success story, thanks to improvements in technology,” said Schüssler. “Ten years ago you were unable to browse the internet on your cellphone. Today it's one of the principal ways of examining web pages.”
In his view, the big growth in the sector is also being driven by tablet computers and the undersea cables that are enlarging South Africa's broadband capacity.
Schüssler however expects the tremendous growth in this sector to slow down somewhat.
“The cellphone market has long been saturated, with more than 100% cellphone ownership.”
The sector will however continue to show double-digit growth for the next couple of quarters. He reckons the growth will now be proportionate to the increasing speed of internet access, and as people use the internet access for more and more purposes. “This sector is where the growth lies,” he said.