Mobile data traffic in Sub-Saharan Africa will grow 17 times between now and 2019, compared to a 10 times growth in global mobile data traffic. This is according to the Ericsson Mobility report, released yesterday.
Speaking at a press briefing in Johannesburg, Fredrik Jejdling, head of the Sub-Saharan region, said the trend towards increasing mobile connections and consumer data-oriented activities will lead to a substantial increase in mobile data traffic. "Mobile traffic will be driven predominantly by the uptake in smartphones, as well as the increased viewing of video."
According to the report, mobile network coverage in the region is constantly increasing as more base stations are deployed. It is noted that population coverage is influenced not only by sufficient signal to connect to a mobile network, but also factors like access to devices and subscriptions.
"Sub-Saharan Africa is making great strides in its evolution from GSM/EDGE networks, with many operators upgrading to WCDMA/HSPA and LTE systems," says Jejdling. He points out that the increase in mobile data traffic, and heightened expectations of app coverage, will lead to the quality of network performance becoming increasingly imperative.
The report shows that while LTE currently has little or no presence in the Sub-Saharan region, it will grow approximately 40% by 2019. GSM/EDGE, which currently has a 60% population coverage, will grow to 80% in 2019, while WCDMA/HSPA, currently at 15%, will grow to 65% in this period.
"Today, the region's mobile phone market is dominated by basic and feature phones. Over the coming years, there will be a significant increase in the number of smartphones, with the majority of first-time smartphone users only being able to afford low-end models operating on 3G networks," he says.
He notes that because 3G-enabled devices lead the smartphone market, it will take time to substitute these for LTE versions. The region is thus likely to see an increase in WCDMA/HSPA rather than LTE subscriptions. "The uptake of LTE in the region from 2013 onwards will be relatively slow, but there will be a steady growth pattern."
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