Africa is the fastest growing mobile market, with a subscriber base set to grow from 113.55 million to 378 million by 2011, predicts Portio Research in its latest report.
Titled "Opportunities In The African Mobile Sector", the report notes that 95% of the African mobile phone subscriber base is prepaid, a lower income sector and therefore receptive to lower cost services. The report says this indicates excellent opportunities for SMS-based services.
"The availability of prepaid subscriptions has been a major growth stimulus across Africa, where the bulk of the population live in low per-capita income groups," the report notes.
Phenomenal pace
Robert Airey, CEO of CellSys, says the SMS-based market is growing at a phenomenal pace in SA. He says CellSys, which provides commercial services for companies, expects to add 60% to its volumes in the coming year.
"There is a growing awareness that there are real opportunities to run your business more efficiently and save on communications costs using SMS-based services," he says.
Gavin Penkin, director of the entertainment portal at Exactmobile, says the report is spot-on regarding opportunities in the SMS-based market in Africa, especially in SA. He notes that virtually all mobile phones can accept SMSes, providing millions of potential customers.
David Muller, national brand manager of Gozomo, says the prepaid system is a great development that has boosted the mobile culture in SA.
"It gave people access to technology and communication ability they could not previously afford, or that was practically out of their reach," he says.
Muller says the challenge for the business owner lies in the cost of marketing the product and ensuring a good return on investment.
"If you own content, it is best to license it to those who have a marketing and distribution mechanism," he says.
Embracing mobile
Muller feels SA has a "vibrant and active mobile culture". He says Gozomo operates similar businesses in First World countries and none of these countries have embraced mobile technology as part of its culture at all levels in the same way as SA.
"In fact, many international companies launch mobile technologies in SA before they take it to First World countries," he says.
The Vodacom Group reached a subscriber base of 21.5 million across all its networks for the period ending 31 December, with 17.6 million registered with Vodacom South Africa. Cell C announced a subscriber base of 3.2 million within the same period.
The MTN Group could not disclose its subscriber figures. However, previous reports indicated the company had 20 million subscribers by 30 September, with an additional 1 million recorded in December.
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