Growth trajectory for broadband in Africa

Global mobile connections are expected to grow and reach about 7.8 billion in 2016. This will be driven by growth in emerging markets, particularly in Africa and the “big three” Asia –Pacific Markets (China, India and Indonesia). Africa and the “big three” Asia Pacific markets accounted for 44% of total global connections in 2010 and this proportion will increase to 51% by 2016.

These figures were reported at the Institute for International Research’s (IIR) Broadband Confex which was held recently at the Sandton Convention Centre. This annual event showcases the latest technological developments and strategies being adopted by African broadband players to increase broadband penetration rates and the take-up of services.

IIR has been hosting this event for the past six years and this year this event was expanded to include an exhibition area as well.

Telkom Business was the platinum sponsor and lead exhibitor at this event. Prashil P Gareeb, Senior Manager at Telkom Business, presented a paper entitled “The information explosion is now: how leading operators are reacting”. His paper drew on the latest research from the ITU-T which suggests that the number of fixed subscribers has grown 16% (CAGR) from 2006 to 2011, while international data usage has grown from 11,000 Gbits/s to 80,000 Gbits in the same period.

“Telkom Business aims to offer small and medium businesses a combined value proposition of world-class broadband and mobility. The Telkom Business journey will continue to develop and launch richer applications that stimulate business demand for broadband,” said Gareeb.