Africa’s telecommunication companies have set an annual mobile data revenue target of $18.5 billion by 2016. The amount would be 22 percent of the Africa’s total mobile service revenues against 12 percent in 2011, according to a recent industry outlook survey commissioned by Informa Telecoms and Media.
Although the full report of the survey tagged ‘Africa Telecoms Outlook 2013: Seizing new revenue opportunities’ will be released in Cape Town, South Africa next week, figures in the report showed that about 70 percent of the survey’s respondents said mobile data growth will be the impetus for quite a number of revenue opportunities. This is in addition to the business case for 4G technology, which will soon emerge, as the rate of the growth of mobile data services in Africa continues to increase.
The survey further revealed that mobile broadband services will empower enterprises. It showed that small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) will benefit more from improved mobile services to create greater business agility.
According to experts in the communications industry, both in the short and long terms, mobile broadband is regarded as Africa’s largest single revenue opportunity. Principal analyst for emerging market analysis at Informa Telecoms and Media, Nick Jotischky, said Africa’s mobile operators’ customer base has gotten more depth than it was about three years ago.
Due to this reason, he said, mobile network operators (MNOs) operating in Africa should gain a greater insight into their customers’ behavior and offer them services that match their individual needs and preferences.
“Using this insight to design new business models that combine mobile network operators (MNOs) traditional capabilities (mobility, location) with internet-style services (search, mapping) will enable a more compelling and personalised set of services to a wider variety of customer segment,” Jotischky added.
