Telecoms & IT
From The Report: South Africa 2016
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Despite facing fierce competition and slowing revenues in 2015, South Africa’s telecoms operators are well placed to see growth in the near to medium term. The mobile market is approaching saturation and a shift from traditional voice and SMS to data is expected to drive future growth, particularly in 4G long-term evolution (LTE) services, which are slated to expand significantly in the next several years. Although market competition remains a significant challenge, recent moves to buy out illiquid companies with sizeable infrastructure networks could indicate the beginning of a period of consolidation in the industry. This could benefit long-term profitability and boost operators’ ability to improve service offerings and capture greater market share, lending an optimistic outlook to the country’s telecoms sector. South Africa’s ICT sector has shown rapid expansion over the past two decades. The government has increasingly sought to provide support for nationwide development of internet connectivity through the National Broadband Plan, while rising data demand and the burgeoning e-commerce and mobile payment segments will further underpin sector development. At the same time, a shift away from traditional voice and SMS services into the realm of data services is prompting telecoms operators to invest heavily in new fibre-optic and next-generation infrastructure. However, the country’s delayed digital TV migration and lack of available frequency spectrum, which is critical for the rollout of 4G LTE mobile broadband services, has slowed progress. Even as the country faces near-term obstacles and delays, rising recognition of ICT’s importance to inclusive economic growth should allow the sector to remain at the forefront of digital innovation on the continent.

This chapter contains interviews with Sifiso Dabengwa, Former Group CEO, MTN; and Asher Bohbot, CEO, EOH Holdings.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Big moves: Mobile expansion drives profits as data grows in popularity
OBG
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Despite facing fierce competition and slowing revenues in 2014, South Africa’s telecoms operators are well placed to see growth in the near to medium term. The mobile market is approaching saturation and a shift from traditional voice and SMS services to data is expected to drive future growth, particularly in 4G long-term evolution (LTE) services, which are slated to expand well beyond upscale suburbs in the next several years. Although operators face a competitive and crowded market, a lack of…

Analysis

Faster speeds on the way: Operators invest billions in the race toward high-speed service
OBG
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Despite ongoing challenges in obtaining the spectrum necessary for 4G long-term evolution (LTE) services, South Africa’s ICT sector has seen a number of operators invest billions in rolling out new services and infrastructure as demand for high-speed mobile services soars. Innovation plays a key role in many new offerings, which include pre-paid 4G LTE SIM cards and voice over LTE (VoLTE) services, demonstrating the sector’s agility and flexibility in meeting rising mobile data demand. Rising…

Interview

Wiring up: OBG talks to Sifiso Dabengwa, Former Group CEO, MTN
OBG
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Interview:Sifiso Dabengwa How best can broadband be deployed nationally to ensure universal access? SIFISO DABENGWA: The National Broadband and ICT Policies are making robust progress in their goal to achieve universal broadband for all. However, execution is imperative and successful implementation will require that it be carried out jointly by the public and private sectors. The private sector can play a role by investing in infrastructure, for example by expanding 3G, fibre and long-term…

Interview

Demand taking off: OBG talks to Asher Bohbot, CEO, EOH Holdings
OBG
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Interview: Asher Bohbot To what extent do you see demand for cloud services taking off among businesses in South Africa? ASHER BOHBOT: As far as large enterprises are concerned, the biggest growth area over the past few years has been in ICT outsourcing, followed by cloud computing. Even so, the uptake on cloud services has remained rather slow as clients continue to experiment with certain computing workloads in the cloud. Banks have taken most readily of all to the cloud. Other industries, with…

Overview

Down to the wires: Rising popularity of data is sparking heavy investment in fibre
OBG
plus

Rising to become a larger economic contributor than agriculture in recent years, South Africa’s ICT sector has shown rapid expansion over the past two decades. The government has increasingly sought to provide support for nationwide development of internet connectivity through the National Broadband Plan, while rising data demand and the burgeoning e-commerce and mobile payment segments will further underpin ICT development. At the same time, a shift away from traditional voice and SMS services…