Trends

May 21, 2024

Starlink Expanding in Africa

Starlink, the satellite broadband provider operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is growing its presence in Africa.

As of May 2024, Starlink’s services are live in eight African countries, with more launches planned for the coming months.

Apr 18, 2024

Mobile and Fixed Broadband Sectors Continued To Grow in 2023

According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, the global mobile subscription total stood at 8.74 billion at the end of 2023, up 2.0% from 8.57 billion a year earlier.

Population penetration rose from 108% to 109% over the same period, boosted by the popularity of multiple SIM ownership in many markets.

Apr 11, 2024

How an Unlikely Spanish Merger Triggered a Reshape of the Telecom Landscape

Last month saw the conclusion of the long-running mega-merger between Orange España and Grupo MASMOVIL in Spain.

The EUR19 billion ($20.5 billion) tie-up—first agreed back in July 2022—created a new Spanish market leader that presides over a mobile/fixed broadband subscription base of 37 million. Now known as MasOrange, the 50:50 joint venture looks like a force to be reckoned with.

Today, we take a look at the Spanish deals that came into play in the wake of the merger, and see how they could reshape the telecom landscape.

Mar 25, 2024

Nigeria: Africa’s Mobile Giant

Nigeria is home to Africa’s biggest mobile market by some distance, with 217.5 million subscriptions at the end of 2023, up from 209.5 million a year earlier.

The next largest African markets at end-2023 were South Africa with 118.9 million subscriptions, and Egypt with 111.1 million, according to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database.

Feb 6, 2024

China: The World’s Biggest 5G Market

With an estimated 750 million active subscriptions at the end of September 2023, China has the world’s largest 5G mobile market by far.

Dec 27, 2023

Iliad and Vodafone: More Consolidation in Italy?

French telco group Iliad has submitted a proposal to UK-based Vodafone Group regarding the potential merger of their respective operations in Italy.

If successful, the merger will have a big impact on the Italian mobile market, reducing it from five players to four, while also combining the fixed broadband operations of the two companies.

The deal is by no means guaranteed to go through, however. Even if Vodafone’s response is positive, regulatory authorities must then study its effects on competition.

Nov 28, 2023

5G Progress Report: Brazil

Brazil’s multi-band 5G spectrum auction drew to a close in November 2021, generating total commitments of BRL47.2 billion ($8.5 billion).

The auction process attracted bids from a mixture of major players like Telefonica Brasil (Vivo), Claro Brasil, and TIM Brasil, established regional players such as Algar Telecom and Sercomtel, and a number of lesser-known participants.

Two years later, we examine the respective progress of Brazil’s 5G licensees. 

Nov 15, 2023

All Change in Ethiopia

Until recently, Ethiopia was one of the few telecom markets in the world that was still a monopoly, with no competition to state-owned firm Ethio Telecom.

Oct 25, 2023

Do Svidaniya: VEON Exits Russia

Following the sale of its local operations on October 9, 2023, Amsterdam-based multinational telecom group VEON has completed its exit from Russia.

Aug 22, 2023

Fiber Fever: Meet the ISPs Driving FTTH Deployment in South Africa

Earlier this month, South African ISP Vumatel announced that its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure now passes two million homes. One million of these homes are in traditionally underserved areas, such as townships.

This network footprint means that Vumatel now presides over a more substantial FTTH network than Telkom South Africa’s Openserve unit.

Fiber ISPs are very much on the rise in South Africa, with multiple players gaining traction with their regional rollouts.

Unusually, the majority of these operators use an open access business model, allowing dozens of smaller companies to market and resell fiber connectivity.

Today, we take a look at the main players driving fiber growth in South Africa.