Flowing With The Tide

Africa’s mobile phone market is the world’s fastest growing market in the sector, though their broadband connection is very slow and expensive according to a UN report published recently.

The report that reflected upon Information Communications and Technology industries across the globe revealed that Africa and other developing countries like India have been witnessing spectacular growth in the mobile industry. The report also suggested that even in face of economic crisis, Africa has registered a 550% growth from 54 million to nearly 350 million in mobile usage over the last five years.

However, internet access in Africa is not that robust, with its poor performance attributable to the poor telecommunication infrastructure. Connections are extremely slow as was demonstrated by the carrier pigeon vs internet race held in South Africa.

Connections are expensive as well, and in places like Swaziland and Burkina Faso, the connection can be as expensive as $1,300 per month.

Torbjorn Fredriksson, Head of the ICT Analysis Section at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, said that even though the broadband scenario in Africa is not so good, the astonishing growth in the mobile market is expected to keep up the positive trend, especially in light of the recent liberalization, as most handsets have become cheaper.

Fredriksson also pointed out the need for international fibre-optic cables for connecting Africa with the rest of the world’s economy. Despite a number of initiatives in this direction, Sub-Saharan Africa has been largely devoid of the mesh of such cables.

The internet has become a basic need for most of us, we like our laptops and our dongles, which offer access to mobile broadband networks whenever and wherever. We look upon broadband access as a ‘utility’; this makes the thought of people not having access a difficult concept.

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