Plan seeks 90% mobile, 70% internet penetration:

CCK’s ambitious five-year strategic plan seeks to among others increase the contribution of the ICT sector to GDP by 100 percent. According to the Plan, CCK envisions to expand the contribution of the ICT sector to GDP from the current 2.2% to 5% and mobile penetration from the 75.8% to 90% by 2018.

If things pan out as planned, mobile penetration will increase from the current 75.8% to 90% in 2018 while wireless broadband will grow to 10% within the next five years from the current 2.4%.

CCK also targets to increase internet penetration in Kenya from the current 41.6% to 70%, and TV broadcast coverage from 55% to 80%, while local content to total content ratio is expected to grow to 60% from 40% currently.

The penetration of mobile money services is projected to grow from 58.9% now to 70% in 2018.

Launching CCK’s 3rd Strategic Plan, ICT Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i lauded CCK for making strategic planning part of its corporate culture and encouraged other organizations under his ministry to follow suit.

Dr. Matiang’i lauded CCK for developing the plan in consultation with stakeholders adding that its implementation would support the realization of the Government’s ICT policy agenda. He called on the private sector to support the implementation of the five-year plan through making contributions to the Universal Service Fund to help CCK to avail ICT services to all in Kenya by 2018.

He pledged his ministry’s support to the attainment of the goals set out in Plan by facilitating regular review of the ICT policy and legal framework.

WIOCC, Dalkom Somalia to take fibre optic connectivity to Mogadishu:

Award-winning Africa’s carriers’ carrier, WIOCC, together with local shareholder Dalkom Somalia, has announced that it will launch connectivity to and from Somalia via the EASSy cable from Q1 2014, offering services directly from Mogadishu to the rest of the world. Capacity will be available from 2Mbps to 10Gbps and above!

Chris Wood, WIOCC CEO, commented, “Until now, Somalia has been served exclusively by satellite – with high costs and limited bandwidth severely restricting the rollout and uptake of internet access and advanced services. WIOCC and Dalkom will be the first into commercial operation with international fibre-optic connectivity direct into Mogadishu. The new services from WIOCC will reduce the cost of international bandwidth and drive significant improvements in performance. I anticipate huge benefits for telcos and internet service providers, local and international businesses, Embassies and other foreign Government facilities, and the academic and research community in Somalia. Improved access to the internet will also have a profound effect on the day-to-day lives of the people of Somalia. WIOCC’s partner, Dalkom Somalia, is building a 1,000 sq m state-of-the-art data centre to host equipment for all Mogadishu telcos and ISPs to facilitate direct connection into the international fibre network.”

Mohamed Ahmed Jama, CEO of Dalkom Somalia, added, “As has been seen in other African countries over recent years, access to affordable, high-speed, international connectivity has a significant impact on economic, political and social development… and improvements happen relatively quickly. To complement the new connectivity to EASSy, Dalkom Somalia is building a fibre-optic metropolitan area network that will extend connectivity to customers within Mogadishu.

This entire initiative will greatly benefit the growing number of international organisations and local business entrepreneurs there, as well as the people of Somalia. I expect it to drive lower cost internet and broadband, to boost mobile penetration from its current 60 per cent and to dramatically increase the development and use of internet-based services and applications – with all the associated benefits to my country and the international companies operating there. We operate an open access policy and encourage all local operators and ISPs to take advantage of the new infrastructure we are bringing to our country.”

Somalia has become one of the most competitive telecoms markets in Africa, with some of the lowest international call rates on the continent. However, access to the internet is very limited – in 2000, Somalia was one of the last countries in Africa to get connected. With speed and quality severely constrained and costs high, internet penetration rates are low, with only an estimated 1.3% of the 10-million population having any access.

Kenya: mobile subscriptions up, but voice traffic declines:

Kenya’s regulator says mobile penetration in the country has passed 77 percent, but voice traffic is declining.

In their latest statistics for the communications and postal sector to end June this year, CCK says the level of mobile telephony penetration registered an increase of 2.3 per cent to stand at 77.3 percent (30.5 million subscriptions), up from the previous quarter which recorded a penetration of 75.6 per cent (29.8 million subscriptions). 19.6 million people access the internet mainly through mobile phones, and SMS and instant messaging have contributed to the decline in voice traffic.

Total local mobile traffic declined by 1.1 per cent, recording a total of 7.1 billion minutes compared to 7.18 billion in the previous quarter. The overall mobile voice traffic per subscriber dropped from 81.1minutes recorded in the previous quarter to 78.4 minutes. Conversely, the total number of SMS stood at 4.3 billion up from 4.0 billion posted in the preceding quarter; averaging 47 SMS per subscriber, per month.

Mobile money transfer subscriptions increased from 23.2 million in the previous quarter to 24.8 million in the quarter under review, recording a 6.8 per cent growth, consistent with the positive subscriber growth patterns.

Comparing the Financial Years 2012/13 and 2011/12 the number of mobile money transfer subscriptions rose by 27.3 per cent overall. Similarly, the number of mobile money transfer agents grew significantly to record 88,466 agents during the quarter up from 74,216 registered during the previous quarter, representing a growth of 19.2 per cent. 

Southern African Governments Accelerate Mobile Access to an Extra 300 Million People:

The Governments of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia have agreed a set of common priorities to accelerate the roll out of mobile broadband in the region, with the view of creating an additional 3.2 million jobs for Sub-Saharan Africa by 2020.

Government ministers welcomed the positive impact of mobile on their digital economies. The mobile ecosystem currently contributes 6.3 per cent of GDP across Sub-Saharan Africa and could grow to 8.2 per cent by 2020 with the right policies to encourage investment. Equally, mobile penetration could increase to 93 per cent of the region's population by 2020, bringing mobile access to an additional 300 million citizens.

Signing a Communique, Ministers agreed to a series of measures including the creation of a Joint Task Force strengthening regional cooperation to support investment in mobile.

"The provision of universal broadband access is vital in driving economic growth and improving the quality of life in Botswana and across Southern Africa," said Honourable Nonofo E. Molefhi, Minister of Transport and Communication for Botswana. "With greater coordination between regional governments and between the public and private sectors, mobile broadband can play a critical role in closing the digital divide."

Kenya: mobile subscriptions up, but voice traffic declines:

Kenya’s regulator says mobile penetration in the country has passed 77 percent, but voice traffic is declining.

In their latest statistics for the communications and postal sector to end June this year, CCK says the level of mobile telephony penetration registered an increase of 2.3 per cent to stand at 77.3 percent (30.5 million subscriptions), up from the previous quarter which recorded a penetration of 75.6 per cent (29.8 million subscriptions). 19.6 million people access the internet mainly through mobile phones, and SMS and instant messaging have contributed to the decline in voice traffic.

Total local mobile traffic declined by 1.1 per cent, recording a total of 7.1 billion minutes compared to 7.18 billion in the previous quarter. The overall mobile voice traffic per subscriber dropped from 81.1minutes recorded in the previous quarter to 78.4 minutes. Conversely, the total number of SMS stood at 4.3 billion up from 4.0 billion posted in the preceding quarter; averaging 47 SMS per subscriber, per month.

Mobile money transfer subscriptions increased from 23.2 million in the previous quarter to 24.8 million in the quarter under review, recording a 6.8 per cent growth, consistent with the positive subscriber growth patterns.

Comparing the Financial Years 2012/13 and 2011/12 the number of mobile money transfer subscriptions rose by 27.3 per cent overall. Similarly, the number of mobile money transfer agents grew significantly to record 88,466 agents during the quarter up from 74,216 registered during the previous quarter, representing a growth of 19.2 per cent.

Southern African Governments Accelerate Mobile Access to an Extra 300 Million People:

The Governments of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia have agreed a set of common priorities to accelerate the roll out of mobile broadband in the region, with the view of creating an additional 3.2 million jobs for Sub-Saharan Africa by 2020.

Government ministers welcomed the positive impact of mobile on their digital economies. The mobile ecosystem currently contributes 6.3 per cent of GDP across Sub-Saharan Africa and could grow to 8.2 per cent by 2020 with the right policies to encourage investment. Equally, mobile penetration could increase to 93 per cent of the region's population by 2020, bringing mobile access to an additional 300 million citizens.

Signing a Communique, Ministers agreed to a series of measures including the creation of a Joint Task Force strengthening regional cooperation to support investment in mobile.

"The provision of universal broadband access is vital in driving economic growth and improving the quality of life in Botswana and across Southern Africa," said Honourable Nonofo E. Molefhi, Minister of Transport and Communication for Botswana. "With greater coordination between regional governments and between the public and private sectors, mobile broadband can play a critical role in closing the digital divide."

Ethiopia Refused to Liberalise the State Telecoms Monopoly:

Ethiopia's Prime Minister had rejected calls for the state-monopoly in telecoms services to be broken, saying that the government needs the revenues to fund an unrelated railway project.

Liberalisation of the telecoms market is a requirement for accession to the World Trade Organisation, which has been stalled for a decade by the telecoms monopoly held by Ethio Telecom.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn said that the government currently earns US$323 million a year from the telecoms monopoly and its revenues would be hurt if the monopoly was broken.

Much of that money is not reinvested back in the telecoms industry though -- it is being used to finance the construction of the Ethiopia- Djibouti railway.

"You may think that the government can get money from taxation; but there is no way that we can generate this much from taxation," the Prime Minister said. "Therefore, the sector remains with us for the years to come."

It has however been argued, largely by the GSMA that boosting telecoms participation through lower prices thanks to competition can grow the overall economy and taxes from that more than offset any losses a government suffers from lack of a state-monopoly.

Recent studies by the World Bank and others, it was shown that there is a direct relationship between mobile penetration and GDP. In developing countries, for every 10 per cent increase in mobile penetration there is a 0.81 per cent point increase in a country's GDP.

Across the African continent, the mobile industry contributes US$15 billion in government revenues.