Earlier this year, China Mobile hit one billion mobile subscriptions.
In a country of more than 1.4 billion people, this may not seem like a remarkable milestone. However, the next largest national cellco, Reliance Jio in India, has less than half of this number—around 476 million subscriptions as of mid-2024.
Let’s take a closer look at China Mobile and the other giant operators.
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.
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.
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.
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.
With an estimated 750 million active subscriptions at the end of September 2023, China has the world’s largest 5G mobile market by far.
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.
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.
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.
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