South Africa 'increases telecoms market score'

24 June 2009

There has been an increase in South Africa's telecoms market score, research has found.

According to the South Africa Telecommunications Report Q3 2009, there were more than 49.9 million mobile telephone customers in the country at the end of 2008, indicating a 13.3 per cent market growth during 2008.

This figure was lower than the 17.5 per cent increase rate the company behind the research Companies and Markets had originally predicted.

It is believed the proliferation of VoIP services and growth of mobile devices will have a negative effect on the fixed-line sector.

Companies and Markets further noted mobile operator Vodacom had joined with Neotel and MTN to construct a 5,000 km national, fibre-optic network.

It commented: "This will provide the three companies with additional bandwidth capacity and enable them to bypass the infrastructure of fixed-line incumbent Telkom SA."

Last week, Kenya's president Mwai Kibaki plugged in a fibre-optic cable to provide broadband connection to residents in east Africa.

Category: ICT