|
This report comprises 234 statistical tables, with high-level and detailed data relating to fixed-line, mobile and Internet operations within Africa as a whole, and within its component countries. Broadband is not yet well enough established to have meaningful statistics. Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year. Countries covered are: Angola, Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cτte dIvoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.Major statistics include:-Key country indicators; Subscriber numbers (Mobile, Internet - users/subscribers and hosts); Annual change and penetration percentages; Number of fixed lines in service and teledensity; Major operator statistics; Growth indications; Historical data.Many African governments have realised the importance of telecommunications and the fact that private investment is the way forward. Alternative technologies such as satellite, wireless and cellular are now making the task of connecting Africa far easier than it has been with the traditional cable-based services, and growth rates have been phenomenal.Despite some remarkable changes across the continent over the past ten years, overall teledensities are still low, with the rollout of fixed lines by incumbent operators barely inching forward in most countries, while the uptake of mobile telephony moves rapidly past it. The same can be said of data communications wireless data services are becoming operational and will similarly usurp fixed-line infrastructure. These trends threaten to undermine Africas Public Telecom Operators (PTOs), especially as they are privatised and their valuation comes under the spotlight. As a result, some have opted for protective strategies. Threatened by the growth of mobile, they have sought and been awarded mobile licences and, with recent growth in the Internet sector, many have established Internet divisions. Regulatory issues, such as interconnection and carrier pre-selection, have also impeded the entrance of fixed-line competitors.Many countries are undergoing sectoral reform, and foreign investment is now being actively encouraged across the continent as privatisation and liberalisation are progressively being introduced. More than one-third of all state telcos have already privatised and several more are set to undergo privatisation in the near future. Some of the biggest markets on the continent, including Nigeria and Kenya, have privatisation of their national telcos on the agenda for 2006. |