Mobile Internet dominates in Africa

An increased number of African Internet users are opting for mobile rather than fixed broadband, a trend that is set to increase competition and effect the earnings of traditional Internet service providers, reports Business Daily Africa.

According to the International Telecommunication Union figures, mobile Internet users have overtaken fixed-line Internet users, as this quarter saw Internet subscribers on the continent hit 4.2 million compared to 3.9 million fixed-line Internet users.

Kenyan analysts say the performance of the local Internet market mirrors that of the continent, with mobile Internet subscribers standing at about 1.8 million compared to a total of about 10 000 dial-up and leased line data subscribers.

Burundi needs $5.8 billion for infrastructure such as telecoms, electricity and transport projects over the next two decades, states Angola Press.

According to a study by the African Development Bank (AFDB), only 2% of Burundians have electricity, compared with an average 16% in sub-Saharan Africa, while only 3% of the population has access to a landline or mobile phone, and 90% of them are in urban centres.

Burundi and AFDB anticipate the coffee-growing country of eight million people could reach annual GDP growth of 6% to 7% once key infrastructure is deployed.

The Libya African Investment Portfolio (LAP) Green Networks, a pan-African mobile operator, is rebranding its African operations in a bid to push for acquisitions of financially struggling incumbent operators, says InfoWorld.

The company says it is pushing to have a presence in many African countries before the market becomes saturated by mobile companies from Europe and the Middle East.

Walter Tapfumanei, communications officer of the Africa Centre for ICT Development, says: "This kind of expansion by an African mobile company may work as a catalyst for more quick investment by international operators which are now shifting their investment focus to Africa's mobile market.”