AfricaCom 2014: If you hum it, I’ll sing it

AfricaCom 2014: If you hum it, I’ll sing it

Africa’s mobile operators struggle to get to grips with the new content narrative - See more at: http://www.balancingact-africa.com/.../africacom-2014-if-yo/en#sthash.cAiMlDhM.dpuf

If you tl;dr...

Internet speeds are getting faster and connectivity costs are dropping. So, if you unrealistically try dictate how PAID for entertainment content and communication must be utilized by the end user(your client) , alternative methods WILL be approached. P2P, OOT, Streaming etc...
This is a fact that historic service providers just can't/won't seem to grasp.

As usual, an excellent article by Russell Southwood / Balancing Act. It summarised the discussion at Africa Com (and the wider dynamic that represents) very well.

If the 66 000 Netflix user in SA estimate in SA is correct (vs the estimated 150 Altech Node users) it also highlights how behind both the operators and the regulator are in their grip of reality.

From my research, the other big factor to throw in (in South Africa) is Wi-Fi. This offers the lower cost bearer mentioned in the article, is already showing the high growth and is becoming increasingly accessible on private, business and commercial hotspots.

I would also mention LTE, if we had any certainty that further spectrum will be released any time soon.