Informa Telecoms & Media announces African wireless market exceeds 150 Million subscription mark at end Q1 2006. The market is predicted to continue growing at 39 percent to reach 186 million by end 2006.
Highlights for the African market include:
-A 66 percent growth rate in 2005 - the highest for any world region.
-150 million milestone exceeded at end of April 2006, only 12 years after the launch of the first GSM mobile network.
-53 markets with a total population of 900 million, yet a mobile penetration of only 15 percent at end of 2005.
According to Devine Kofiloto, Principal Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, subscriber growth across the region is not consistent. Southern Africa, North Africa and West Africa alone accounted for an 85 percent share of the total 134 million mobile subscriptions at end 2005. This is a reflection of the diversity of the cluster of markets under different stages of demographic and wireless evolution."
Within these sub-regions, subscription growth has largely been driven by four key markets: Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria and Egypt. It is these four key markets that will predominantly drive total subscriptions to the forecast 186 million by the end of 2006, collectively accounting for 59 percent of the expected 52 million net additions in 2006.
Highlights for the African market include:
-A 66 percent growth rate in 2005 - the highest for any world region.
-150 million milestone exceeded at end of April 2006, only 12 years after the launch of the first GSM mobile network.
-53 markets with a total population of 900 million, yet a mobile penetration of only 15 percent at end of 2005.
According to Devine Kofiloto, Principal Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, subscriber growth across the region is not consistent. Southern Africa, North Africa and West Africa alone accounted for an 85 percent share of the total 134 million mobile subscriptions at end 2005. This is a reflection of the diversity of the cluster of markets under different stages of demographic and wireless evolution."
Within these sub-regions, subscription growth has largely been driven by four key markets: Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria and Egypt. It is these four key markets that will predominantly drive total subscriptions to the forecast 186 million by the end of 2006, collectively accounting for 59 percent of the expected 52 million net additions in 2006.