Report: Fiber-Optic Cables Will Boost West African Telecom
Mon, October 27, 2008
IDG News Service —
Telecommunications in West Africa will get a major boost from the arrival of new submarine fiber-optic cables in 2008 and 2009, according to a new report by the U.K.'s Report Buyer.
The cables will bring direct access to fiber-based international bandwidth to many countries in the region for the first time, thus creating competition for South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable (SAT-3/WASC), the only international fiber currently serving the West African coast.
Though growth prospects in the region's mobile voice market are still excellent, declining ARPU (average revenue per user) levels are forcing operators to transform themselves into providers of converged fixed, mobile and broadband services, states the report, titled "2008 Africa -- Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Western Region."
It further notes that while some countries in the region are struggling to clean up disorderly regulatory regimes left behind by corrupt previous governments, foreign investors from Europe, the Middle East and South Africa continue to keep a keen eye on every takeover opportunity and new operator licence being tendered.
Highlighted in the report are the facts that the new fiber links will reduce the cost of international bandwidth by up to 90 percent and that ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) and wireless broadband are rapidly replacing dial-up as the Internet access method of choice.
It also reveals that monthly mobile ARPU has broken the US$10 barrier in most markets, but some operators are achieving up to 60 percent higher ARPU than their direct competitors.
In its overview of Sierra Leone, the report notes that recent government intervention in some regulatory matters has created a degree of uncertainty about market growth in the medium term. Overall, penetration rates in all market segments are still well below African averages, leaving ample potential for future growth.
