Africa wants prepaid broadband

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 20 May 2008

A large number of African prepaid mobile phone subscribers want prepaid Internet access.

This is according to research by Alcatel Lucent, which was released at ITU Telecoms Africa 2008, in Cairo, last week.

The quantitative survey looked at Internet access and usage in 10 emerging market countries. These are Kenya, Egypt, Malaysia, India, China, Brazil, Russia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.

While the study did not cover SA, many South African operators are looking to penetrate other emerging markets, including Kenya and Latin America.

The research also proposes strategies that can be used to drive broadband access in Africa as part of the Connect Africa initiative, which aims to connect more than a billion Africans by 2012.

According to Valerie Faudon, Alcatel-Lucent's corporate marketing executive, the study found that 66% of Kenyan respondents wanted access to broadband on a prepaid plan.

An overwhelming 96% of the respondents already had prepaid mobile access, with only 4% of users on contract, she said.

The number of users wanting prepaid Internet in Egypt was slightly lower, at 40%, with 54% wanting a postpaid contract and 5% unsure of which plan would suit them best. Seventy-two percent of Egyptian respondents already had prepaid mobile access, said Faudon.

While the study did not cover the whole African continent comprehensively, it did give a glimpse of what potential broadband users, as well as current users, need and want, she said.

Public access first

The study found that 57% of Kenyan respondents are interested in having a broadband subscription at home, said Faudon. Among them, 50% did not have broadband coverage in their area, or don't know if they had it, she said.

In Egypt, 68% of respondents were interested in having a subscription at home, with 98% among them having broadband coverage and intending to subscribe for services. Egypt is considered a broadband success story, as it has 64% broadband penetration levels.

In both countries, the Internet caf'es played a crucial role in introducing users to broadband for the first time, with many of the respondents who have access at home saying they used to use public services, noted Faudon.

Ninety percent of Kenyan respondents who had access at home previously used Internet caf'es, with only 68% gaining access at work also, she added.

"What was surprising was that many of the respondents who could only access broadband through the Internet caf'e had unconnected PCs at home."