More than 80 percent of African telecoms companies have backed mobile broadband to be their biggest money-maker for the next five years.
The industry research was presented by Nick Jotischky, principal analyst at Informa, Telecoms & Media, at the first speech of AfricaCom 2012 today (Tuesday).
According to the survey, responded to by around 200 companies (70% of whom were Africa based), LTE, mobile money and improving customer loyalty are lower on their list of priorities as they look to increase revenue streams.
Jotischky, speaking to a packed room in the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC), said: “Mobile broadband was suggested to be the most successful revenue opportunity for Africa, both now and in the long term.
“Seven out of 10 believe there will be a strong business case for LTE in Africa as it develops, but only four out of 10 think there is a strong business case for LTE right now.”
The survey defies ‘long term’ as by 2017 and cloud services achieved the biggest jump on companies’ priority list from now until five years time.
Only 45 percent of those surveyed said cloud services was one of their top priorities for creating revenue now, but the figure rose to 65 percent when considering their position in five years time.
Of the 10 categories (LTE, satellite, mobile broadband, cloud services, enterprise market, service innovation, mobile money, low-cost devices, improving customer loyalty and network converge/transformation) put to the 200 telecoms companies, only satellite (48 percent to 38 percent) and low-cost devices (67 percent to 64 percent) produced a reduction in their priority status now compared to two years time.
