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Harare - The pace of broadband usage is fast rising in sub-Saharan Africa, with the number of mobile broadband connections set to top 950 million in the next five years, said global technology research and advisory firm Ovum on Tuesday.
Lehlohonolo Mokenela, the ICT research analyst at Frost and Sullivan, said last week Wi-Fi internet vendors stand to benefit from the rise in mobile penetration in sub-Saharan Africa despite massive investments being sunk into 3G and recently 4G networks. Experts expect mobile subscriptions across Africa to top 1 billion by 2016.
Frost and Sullivan added in its report that heavy mobile traffic in urban centres across the region is likely to force internet consumers to switch to Wi-Fi internet accessibility. It added that sub-Saharan African countries such as South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya would be the frontrunners to capitalise on this.
Ovum has now said in its 2014 Broadband Development Index report released on Tuesday that South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe have "the most advanced broadband markets" in the region, alongside Uganda. However, access to high speed broadband connectivity remains a challenge for most of the region.
On the 2014 Broadband Development Index, South Africa had a score of 262, Kenya 244, Zimbabwe 241, Uganda 227 and Nigeria 227 out of a high possible score of 1 000. This means there is still significant room for further growth, according to other experts.
“South Africa ranks only 103rd out of the 191 countries worldwide tracked by the Broadband Development Index in 2014, and African countries account for eight out of the ten lowest-ranked countries in the Index in 2014,” said the report.
Africa still lags world in high-speed broadband
It added that mobile data connections and services were “growing strongly in Africa” although the continent “continues to lag behind most of the rest of the world in terms of high-speed broadband” connectivity.
Ovum defines mobile broadband connections as active mobile connections that use 3G and 4G technologies
Mathew Reed, the Ovum practice leader for Africa and Middle East said "with the rate of growth in mobile subscriptions slowing, the number of mobile subscriptions in Africa will increase by only about 5% year-on-year in 2019".
He said "the more significant development within Africa’s mobile market is the growth in mobile data connections" and other related services.
According to the Ovum index, Africa has a Broadband Development Index score of 226 out of 1 000 for 2014. It is ranked just ahead of Central & Southern Asia (219 out of 1 000), but a long way behind the leading regions, which are North America (633) and Western Europe (433).
Africa’s fixed broadband connectivity is still considered “very low” compared to other major regions in the world. The fixed broadband household penetration rate on the continent was a lowly 5.2% at the end of the second quarter of 2014.
