The Atlantic

April 2, 2011

Africa has passed Western Europe in the number of mobile connections during the final quarter of 2010, Wireless Intelligence reported on Thursday.

It comes as the telecom market on the continent continues to show marked improvement in both services and infrastructure, especially in North Africa. The new report said that African mobile connections reached 547.5 million during the final three months of 2010, up nearly 20 percent from the previous year.

In comparison, Western Europe reported 523.6 million connections, or an increase of less than one percent from 2009. Also, ARPU declined at a similar rate across both continents, down three percent in Europe and 3.29 percent in Africa.

According to the report, much of that slide was triggered by price wars in Kenya, Tanzania and Egypt.

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Africa passes Europe in mobile connections (via prepaidafrica)

Read for more on Africa’s communications infrastructure, read “The Coming Battle for Africa’s Internet” by Drew Hinshaw at The Atlantic.

(via poptech)

2:52pm | URL: https://theatlantic.tumblr.com/post/4289379889/africa-has-passed-western-europe-in-the-number-of

(Notes: 81)