Broadening mobile coverage and the installation of 4G infrastructure in South Africa is driving the demand for electronic test equipment in the telecoms sector, according to business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.
“Telecom operators are increasingly looking for spectrum analysers to test and validate the mobile networks to improve the quality of their service as signal strength in Africa is very poor,” the company said.
According to Frost & Sullivan the market revenue for test equipment in Africa was US$28.3 million in 2013 and is expected to reach US$47.5 million in 2019.
Telecoms test equipment includes oscilloscopes, spectrum analysers, network analysers, millimetres, signal generators and power meters.
The company said that the education sector is also responsible for the growing demand in testing equipment.
“The growing demand for oscilloscopes, signal generators, and spectrum analysers in the education sector is lending momentum to the market,” said Frost & Sullivan measurement and instrumentation research analyst Janani Balasundar. “Market participants should roll out comprehensive electronic test equipment with multiple functionalities to cater to the needs of technical research and PhD students.”
The company said a similar trend could be seen in the aerospace and defense industries.
“However, the poor economic condition and unstable currency of South Africa, a trading partner to several neighbouring sub-Saharan countries, is delaying projects and slowing down the growth of the electronic test equipment market in all of these countries,” the company said.
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