ISSUE 05 2014
AFRICA
39
BMI: Given that LTE networks will be concentrated in urban areas and broadband penetration remains low in most countries, BMI expects demand to be driven by young professionals in these urban scenarios. These consumers are most likely to be able to afford devices and tariffs and want access to data- intensive services, such as video-on- demand. We expect rising demand to be driven by the falling cost of devices and expanding network coverage – especially once digital migration is complete and 700/800MHz spectrum becomes available. We also expect growth to be supported by operators’ implementation of data strategies, in order to offset falling voice ARPUs and approaching saturation in urban areas. Building up data networks in urban areas offers better returns than expanding networks to underserved rural areas, where operational costs are high and ARPUs are low.
F&S: Approximately 95 per cent of LTE subscribers in Africa are in South Africa. As mentioned earlier, we see the current 350,000 LTE subscribers increasing to 700,000 over the next five years.
IDC: Getting precise figures about LTE users on the continent may be challenging for now and will require extensive research into each LTE market in Africa. This is because ISPs, as well as MNOs, have deployed LTE. To arrive at a fairly accurate number, primary research will be required.
How will enterprise users and Unified Communications as a Service (UCAAS) play a part in the rise of LTE in Africa? BMI: Most operators pursuing large enterprise customers and multi-play residential customers are deploying fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks in key business districts and highbrow residential areas. Capacity over LTE networks is not high enough to handle
LTE smartphones and tablets are available from Samsung, Apple, Blackberry, LG, Huawei and ZTE across Africa
major cloud computing services. We therefore do not expect LTE to have a massive impact on this segment of the market. However, BMI expects LTE to be the main source of connectivity for small businesses operating in areas without FTTH and with only small cloud computing needs.
F&S: The uptake of UCAAS, among other applications, is experiencing growth in Africa as enterprise users increasingly communicate globally and work towards more converged business solutions. This trend will play a major role in driving the uptake of LTE networks in Africa, as it is the appropriate choice for using such data-intensive services.
IDC: The enterprise market is an important part of the LTE ecosystem. For mobile operators, LTE with its technological advancements creates opportunities to explore new revenue streams and to offer high quality enterprise-grade services to its business customers, including unified communications (UC) suites. Enterprises are constantly seeking avenues to cut costs and increase profitability. These are the merits UC brings to the business world. Businesses usually buy voice, data, IM and email services as standalone from different vendors. UC presents an all-in-one solution that caters for the voice, data, IM and email needs of a company. Video
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