adminKearney, a leading global think-tank in the ICT industry.
At Kearney also urged governments to provide access to additional spectrum to qualified operators and encourage wider and more affordable access to Internet devices, the development of cheaper, high bandwidth backbone capacity in order to support the further growth of the industry and stimulate wider adoption of ICT services.
The report states ICT sector as crucial to the development of education, healthcare, agriculture and business services.
The firm said that some African governments have already begun to adopt ICT policies that align with their development goals and singled out Ghana which has established ICT as the cornerstone of the development of its economy:
“Ghana is committed to pursuing an ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) Vision aimed at improving the quality of life of the people of Ghana by significantly enriching their social, economic and cultural well-being through the rapid development and modernisation of the economy and society using information and communication technologies as the main engine for accelerated and sustainable economic and social development,” said At Kearney.
“Other African governments need to adopt similarly ambitious ICT policies in order to drive the “rapid development and modernisation of (their) economy and society.”
The think-tank urged governments to provide access to additional spectrum to qualified operators.
The recommendation comes on the back of estimations that by 2016, Internet traffic in Middle East and Africa will reach 3 714 PB per month, driven mainly by Internet video2. “However, spectrum allocation for mobile services is much lower than in most other regions in the world (Figure 10).
In particular, essential spectrum for mobile broadband in the 800Mhz and 2.1Ghz range, has yet to be allocated.
“Other important spectrum bands — e.g., 2.3Ghz, 2.6Ghz and 3.5Ghz — have in many countries been attributed to a flurry of small, niche Wimax operators, which in many cases sub-utilise the spectrum,” the report said.
Meanwhile, At Kearney forecasted data connectivity and valued-added services) are poised to grow strongly in the foreseeable future.
Mobile data services (including SMS) represent on average 12 percent of African telecom operators’ total revenues.
There is ample evidence that the African consumer has significant interest in accessing Internet services, provided services are affordable and relevant, said the firm.
A tenth of the African population accesses the Internet on a regular basis, mainly through public access points such as cyber cafes, work or school. However, Internet access through PCs remains quite limited, at approximately 1 percent with some notable exceptions such as South Africa or Egypt.
“In summary, the African telecoms market still offers room for growth, estimated at 2 percent per annum over the 2012-2016 period.
This growth will be essentially driven by data /Value added services, with voice revenues eroding slightly. — CAJ News
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