March 21, 2005 - (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – Research and Markets has announced the addition of 2005 - African Broadband and Internet Markets to their offering. For full report see: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c14193
Africa remains the least connected continent in the world both from the view of the total bandwidth feeding the entire continent and from an Internet penetration perspective. While Internet uptake increased from less than 500,000 in 1995 to over 12 million in early-2004, its use remains comparatively minuscule due to the lack of telecoms infrastructures in many regions and high prices. Growth is slower than world averages and is less than half the growth rate of mobile. By early-2004, overall Internet penetration in Africa was around 1.5%, with the highest penetration recorded in Reunion (over 20%) followed by the Seychelles (around 14%). South Africa and Tunisia were next in line with between 6 and 7%. This compares with over 50% penetration in developed countries. New operators with fresh capital are needed to provide broadband connectivity to and within the continent and to serve what is becoming a very attractive telecom market opportunity for both equipment and service providers. Several African countries have experienced triple-digit growth rates in Internet usage in 2003 and 2004, including Cote d'Ivoire, Morocco, Senegal, Sudan and Tanzania.
While Africa is still struggling to ensure universal availability of basic voice services, the implementation of broadband networks is still very limited but has picked up momentum during 2003 and 2004.
This annual report offers a wealth of information on the African Broadband and Internet markets.
