Digital Lifescapes

The African continent could experience high growth and real socioeconomic advancement -- if only the nations of the region can end the debilitating ethnic wars and outlaw the deep-rooted local government corruption. Meanwhile, telecommunications infrastructure investment continues unabated. By end of 2018, it's estimated that half the African population will be covered by 4G LTE mobile networks, as LTE base station deployment swells at a CAGR of 40 percent over the next five years, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. However, LTE network population coverage will be far from homogenous across the region, with a few countries such as Angola and Namibia nearing the halfway point already, while wealthier nations like Botswana and Gabon have yet to deploy the advanced technology. "Part of the underlying reason for this digital divide is the different types of initiatives driving LTE roll-out," says Ying Kang Tan, research associate at ABI Research . ...

Many countries around the world still have relatively high-priced wireline broadband access to the internet that's a barrier to increased mainstream adoption -- it's expensive to install and to use. In contrast, mobile internet access via a smartphone is more attainable. Low cost smartphones -- defined as those smartphones with a wholesale price below $200 -- are increasingly appearing in OEM and operator portfolios in both emerging and developed markets. In many developing nations, the availability of these devices is a catalyst to socioeconomic advancement. It can change lives, for the better, by helping to free people from poverty. The ultimate upside opportunity for mobile network operators is for low-cost smartphones to drive adoption in emerging markets where handset subsidization and disposable income are scarce. Market intelligence firm ABI Research forecasts low cost smartphone shipments to grow from 238 million in 2013 to 758 million by 2018, driven by the low...

The cellular mobile communications market continues to attract new subscribers within the African continent -- which in turn is helping to fuel regional and local socioeconomic development. In 3Q-2012, the continent's 54 countries and 1.08 billion people have accumulated 821 million mobile network subscriptions -- that's up 16.9 percent year-on-year, resulting in a cellular subscription penetration of 76.4 percent. In the first quarter of 2013, it's now forecast that cellular phone penetration will eclipse 80 percent, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. Given the fact that a significant percentage of prepaid phone users maintain more than one active prepaid mobile subscription to minimize interconnection charges, there is still subscriber growth to be had. "While Western Europe languishes with barely positive overall growth quarter-on-quarter, Africa managed to generate 4.2 percent growth in the same period," said Marina Lu, research asso...

Preparations for the London 2012 Olympics includes plans for broadband infrastructure upgrades across the UK. Coverage of the sporting events will create a multitude of digital media content, but the ultimate legacy will be a platform for long-term socioeconomic development within the nation. Point Topic predicts there will be over 10.5 million superfast broadband lines in Britain within the next five years. With another 4.6 million cable broadband connections this means that almost 60 percent of broadband customers -- and more than half of all homes and businesses -- will be using superfast speeds of 30 megabits or more by the end of 2016. "It's still a risky and controversial forecast," says Tim Johnson, Chief Analyst at Point Topic. "It is always difficult to predict something which is expected to grow so fast. If the forecast is correct, the number of superfast lines will grow 50 times over between mid-2011 and the end of 2016." But there's unce...

The next one billion people on the planet who are first-time users of the internet will likely gain access via a smartphone, not a computer. Moreover, the internet offers them the prospect of new hope and socioeconomic advancement. Why? Many of these people are poor, very poor. In most developing nations, the typical Android smartphone -- typically selling for $400 to $500 -- is way out of reach for many consumers that currently have a feature phone or perhaps no phone at all. These potential smartphone owners currently only have one operating system (OS) choice in the low-cost category, (the under-$150 segment) and that is Google Android. Besides, the only mobile service they can afford will most likely be pre-paid. According to the latest market study by In-Stat , they now forecast that unit shipments for low-cost Android smartphones will approach 340 million worldwide in 2015. “The low-cost Android handset segment will cause some fragmentation in the Android platform,” says ...