The cumulative investment in ADSL and wireless broadband infrastructure in Africa is expected to be $1.1 billion in the next five years, excluding customer equipment, says a new BMI-TechKnowledge report.
"These figures exclude investments that GSM and fixed-line operators are expected to make in their core networks for the provision of voice and other data services, which will also be leveraged to provide broadband data services," says Richard Hurst, a BMI-T analyst and co-author of the report.
Stephane Tchies, co-author of the report, adds that, in general, wireless technologies are expected to dominate broadband connections in Africa, resulting in increased uptake of wireless broadband services.
"Besides the high prices that users might be charged, we expect telecoms operators to prefer investing in wireless technologies because they are significantly cheaper," he says.
Looking forward
The report says the number of broadband connections, both fixed and wireless, is expected to reach over seven million by 2011, with DSL subscribers accounting for close to 3.7 million.
By 2011, dial-up connections will drop from the current base of 76% to 17%, while DSL will grow from 26% to 43% of the broadband market share, Hurst says.
Fixed wireless broadband connections will grow from 2% to 18%, while cellular connections will jump from 4% to 21%, he adds.
Basic Internet access and the ability to deliver voice services will be the driving force of the uptake of broadband services in Africa, Tchies says.
He adds that North Africa is expected to benefit considerably from the increased uptake of broadband, while the sub-Saharan markets are expected to remain the same due to the current lack of international capacity.
"In North Africa we are seeing a healthy uptake of services, with Morocco reporting 350 000 ADSL subscribers and Egypt 150 000, while the rest of the continent's broadband is starting to gain traction," he says.
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