4G in Africa: Where mobile means more

by Howard_Stevens 

The increase in mobile use in Africa is no secret. Currently the fastest growing market for smartphones and accountable for over 60% of the continent’s internet traffic, it is a thriving and dynamic mobile economy. But despite the significant growth in mobile usage and breadth of mobile services available to people in Africa, levels of connectivity still have some progress to make. Operators and network providers are continuously investigating opportunities to introduce faster ways of connecting to the mobile literate continent – a topic we are hearing more about at this year’s AfricaCom event in Cape Town.

As in other parts of the world, 4G is currently being rolled out across Africa but differences in LTE frequency band adoption and channel bandwidths between operators could hamper interoperability – a valid concern. Combine this, however, with the limited disposable income mobile users have in the continent, and the fact that many mobile devices are shared between individuals, and it’s easy to see how recouping costs for 4G rollout is relatively limited in comparison to other, more developed markets.

That said, new deployment tactics are being introduced more frequently as operators assess the current opportunities to introduce 4G connectivity to countries in Africa. Looking to the future, establishing solid 4G networks could not only provide more for the 800 million mobile subscribers, but could further develop IT services in the continent.

Africa’s largest annual communications exhibition, AfricaCom has returned to Cape Town this week; dubbed to be the biggest of its kind to-date. Demand for faster networks is prevalent across the continent and this event will address many of the issues operators are currently trying to overcome. The event not only highlights that significant development of the mobile economy is currently underway across Africa, but also heralds a bright future for Africa in a data-centric world.

Find out more about AfricaCom here: http://africa.comworldseries.com/

https://community.sapmobileservices.com/t5/Mobile-Blogs/4G-in-Africa-Where-mobile-means-more/ba-p/497

SAP are exhibiting at AfricaCom 2013. Come and meet them at the event today at stand E11. Just turn up with a business card and register for your free exhibition pass onsite.