Despite often poor mobile experiences due to the lack of LTE licensing from a years-long lag in spectrum allocation, SA's mobile broadband infrastructure is more robust than any of its African counterparts.
This is according to World Wide Worx, which yesterday released the findings of its latest report, Mobile Africa 2015, and is indicative in the fact that SA leads in terms of app downloads, with 34% of phone users making downloads from app stores.
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says this belies anecdotal reports of the Internet being more actively used in Nigeria and Kenya, where Internet use is far greater in terms of number of people, but "substantially lower" when it comes to intensity of use.
While many South African consumers may argue their mobile experience is poor, Goldstuck says, when it comes to infrastructure, SA has the most advanced network by far. "This is premised largely on the heavy investment being made in broadband infrastructure by [SA's] operators."
Vodacom is investing R8.5 billion in its network this year and MTN has committed R10 billion - almost twice the amount of last year's capex - to improving its local grid, while third operator Cell C is busy with a R5 billion rollout. "From this point of view - despite the fact we don't have adequate mobile broadband in SA - our network infrastructure is superior," says Goldstuck.
Another contributing factor, he notes, is the "very expensive" fibre network Telkom has in place. "In terms of fixed-line broadband, there is a robust infrastructure - even if it's not effectively rolled out. There is over 140 000km of fibre in the ground from Telkom. Combine that with the tens of billions invested in mobile infrastructure each year, and you realise how extensive our infrastructure really is."
Vodacom currently leads the pack in terms of LTE sites, with about 2 000 active stations, while Telkom has around 1 300, followed by MTN with 1 000. Cell C is expected to roll out a commercial LTE offering any day now.
Continued investment
Analysts say the sizeable investments seen to date are likely just the beginning, with mobile operators under increasing pressure to keep up with swelling demand in an era fast becoming defined by over-the-top (OTT) data services.
Telecoms analyst at Africa Analysis, Ofentse Mopedi, says SA's mobile operators will continue to invest heavily in their networks to extend coverage nationwide, especially with regard to 3G, LTE and LTE-A networks. "This drive is spurred by number of factors, including intense competition among operators, with the need to have stable networks and also greater customer reach."
Mopedi says SA can also expect to see increased collaboration among operators, mainly centred on infrastructure sharing, in the near future.
Gareth Mellon, ICT programme manager at Frost & Sullivan Africa, says infrastructure investment in urban areas can usually be justified on a cost-benefit analysis, but the requirement to service rural populations is more difficult for operators to meet. "It is likely that we will see more infrastructure sharing emerge to meet this need."
OTT driver
The OTT threat ? now a stark reality for operators, which some say should have acted years ago already ? is going to keep the need for both investment and innovation very much alive and growing, say analysts.
Goldstuck says, with WhatsApp calling now in the market and soon to become more widely used, operators can expect massive demand.
Independent telecoms analyst Spiwe Chireka points out that operators face a sticky situation, where they are expected to provide the network capacity OTT services will necessitate, despite the fact they are not reaping all the financial benefits from them.
"Operators are at risk of seeing demand outpace investment, with new services like WhatsApp calling and video-on-demand (VOD) from DStv and MTN, for example, being just the beginning. Suddenly consumers start consuming a gigabyte every month, where they used to consume 100 megabytes and, on top of that, they start demanding more speed."
She says two years ago, analysts expected operators to have responded by this time, but - apart from MTN's VOD offering, which is still very new, they have largely remained out of the OTT game. "Regardless, OTT services are driving the demand and telcos have to supply it."
Operators need to plan and fund investments well ahead of demand, says Alistair Petersen, head of growth implementation solutions at Frost & Sullivan Africa. "The impact on data usage is significant when, for example, a well-subscribed OTT platform like WhatsApp offers voice calling; or video streaming applications, like Meerkat and Periscope, become the de facto standard for mobile consumers."
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