AFRICA IS GETTING SET for a broadband revolution – as soon as telecommunication companies throughout the continent can sort out their international connectivity woes.<\/p>\n
A new report from SA research house BMI-T indicates that the looming revolution in international connectivity – with the Seacom, Eassy and UhuruNet cable systems in the works – is set to drive down the cost of broadband connectivity throughout Africa.<\/p>\n
BMI-T analyst Brian Neilson says the dramatic drop in international connectivity prices already announced by Seacom – one-twentieth of current pricing – should have a dramatic effect when the cable system becomes operational mid-2009.<\/p>\n
The exact decrease in pricing will be determined by individual operators and should the large telecoms providers in the countries concerned choose to increase their long distance bandwidth costs – as Telkom has done in SA – the effect could be less dramatic.<\/p>\n
The report also indicates that by 2011 the number of wireless broadband subscribers in Africa will have increased to 5,2m, with DSL subscribers reaching 5,4m at the same time the market for dial-up Internet subscribers will decline to 1,9m. That will see wireless and DSL making up 83% of the Internet connections on the continent, up from their current levels of 35%.<\/p>\n
Neilson adds that the take-up of DSL technology is likely to remain limited to North Africa and SA, where there’s already a strong fixed line infrastructure while other parts of the continent are more likely to rely on wireless technologies to deliver broadband services.<\/p>\n
In the wireless market Neilson says the winners will be dictated by which companies have the money available both to roll out competitive services and deliver the right marketing messages to win the hearts and minds of consumers.<\/p>\n