New Market Report: West & Central Africa Telecommunications Report Q1 2014

From: Fast Market Research, Inc.
Published: Thu Jan 23 2014


Our Q114 West and Central Africa report analyses latest industry, regulatory and macroeconomic developments in the telecoms markets of seven countries: Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal. In addition to analysis of the latest market data, the report contains updated five-year forecasts, through to 2017, for the mobile, fixedline and internet sectors.

Key Data

* The average mobile market growth for the seven countries in our coverage in Q313 was 2.7%, driven by the DRC.
* Mauritania was the only country to record negative subscriptions growth in Q313
* The average mobile penetration rate in the seven countries was 99.1% at the end of Q313. Gabon had the highest penetration rate at 198.9%, while DRC had the lowest at 36.8%.
* Most of the countries in our coverage continue to record positive subscription growth in the fixed-line sector, despite the strong uptake of mobile voice and data services.

Full Report Details at
- http://www.fastmr.com/prod/763946_west_central_africa_telecommunications_report_q1.aspx?afid=301

Key Trends & Developments

YooMee Africa has contracted Alcatel-Lucent to build out its LTE network in Cameroon. YooMee's chief technical officer confirmed that the operator already has a 4G licence and expects to launch the next generation network in Q114. YooMee is a data-only provider in Cameroon, which currently offers WiMAX services on the University of Douala campus, where there are 70,000 students. The company is keen to tap into a reasonable level of pent-up demand for more affordable data services in Cameroon.

Senegalese incumbent Sonatel launched a 4G network pilot in October 2013 after the country's telecoms regulator awarded temporary concessions for 4G trials to the operator and its rivals Tigo and Expresso in the period to December 2014. With this development, Senegal is poised to be the first country in the Union economique et monetaire oust-africaine (UEMOA) to have a commercial 4G network. BMI expects strong uptake of mobile data services a major growth driver in Senegal, but we are cautious about uptake of 4G in the context of falling ARPUs and limited economic growth.

Alpha Telecom Mali, a joint venture between Monaco Telecom and local holding company Planor Afrique, has paid the final balance of XOF7.6bn (US$15.6mn) it owed to the Malian government for the third mobile licence it won in 2012. The deadline date for the payment was November 13 2013. The government had threatened to withdraw the concession altogether if the new licensee failed to pay the balance of its licence fee on or before that date. This development now clears the way for Alpha Telecom to proceed with plans to launch commercial services in 2014.

About Fast Market Research

Fast Market Research is an online aggregator and distributor of market research and business information. We represent the world's top research publishers and analysts and provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available.

For more information about these or related research reports, please visit our website at http://www.fastmr.com or call us at 1.800.844.8156.

You may also be interested in these related reports:

- South Africa Telecommunications Report Q1 2014
- China Telecommunications Report Q1 2014
- Central America Telecommunications Report Q1 2014
- Kenya Telecommunications Report Q1 2014
- Tanzania Telecommunications Report Q1 2014

Company: Fast Market Research, Inc.
Contact Name: Bill Thompson
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