Africa has become the second most connected region in the world in terms of mobile subscription count; Up from fourth place at end of 2010.According to new research by Informa Telecoms & Media. -There were over 616 million mobile subscriptions in Africa at the end of September, which means that the mobile market on the continent is second only to Asia-Pacific in terms of mobile subscription numbers.Africa's mobile-subscription count overtook that of Western Europe during 2second quarter of 2011 and then overtook the Americas in third quarter of 2011. At end of 2010, less than a year ago, Africa was only the fourth largest regional mobile market by subscriptions, coming after Asia-Pacific, Western Europe and the Americas.'The combination, in Africa of a still relatively immature telecoms market with factors including population growth, strong competition among providers and the increasing affordability of mobile devices, explains Africa's move up the regional mobile-market rankings as well as its strong growth forecast,' said Matthew Reed, head of mobile research for the Middle East and Africa at Informa Telecoms & Media. 'Africa's mobile market is heading towards a major landmark: the number of mobile subscriptions on the continent will cross the one billion mark in 2016 according to our latest forecast.'Africa will retain its position as the second biggest regional mobile market by subscriptions, according to Informa's forecasts for the coming five years. However, there is a strong trend for Africa mobile subscribers to have multiple SIM cards and consequently the number of unique users of mobile services on the continent is smaller than the number of subscriptions. The number of unique users in Africa at end-2016 is forecasted to be 572.35 million.Nigeria will continue to be Africa's biggest mobile market by subscriptions, with a forecasted 152.09million subscriptions at end-2016. Egypt will hold onto its position as Africa'2s second-biggest mobile market, with a forecasted 118.03 million subscriptions at end-2016. South Africa, the continent's third largest mobile market, will have 80.56 million mobile subscriptions at end of 2016.Africa is forecasted to have a mobile penetration rate of 86.92 per cent at end of 2016, still lower than in other regions.3G (WCDMA) subscriptions and market share in Africa will grow strongly over the coming years. The mobile-market-share held by WCDMA is forecasted to rise from 6.6per cent at end of 2011 to 46per cent at end of 2016, almost equalling GSM's market-share of 47.5per cent at end of 2016.As the African market matures, the retention of existing customers is becoming increasingly important. A recent survey by Informa Telecoms & Media into the views of African operators on customer loyalty found that 21.8 per cent of respondents ranked customer retention as their main priority while 18.2per cent said it was customer acquisition, and 60per cent said that customer retention and customer acquisition were equally important.
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