INTELLIGENT MOBILE TECHNOLOGY
South Africa ’ s mobile ecosystem into 2021 rife with opportunity . . . and challenges
S outh Africa has one of the largest telecoms market in Africa and there are 80 active tech hubs across the country . There is no doubt that as citizens lives rapidly change and lines between work-life blur quicker than ever before , this mobile and technology ecosystem has already and will continue to witness rapid growth . To ensure a functional , economically viable ecosystem , the country will need to gear towards much stronger technology access and infrastructure but also , as this growth happens , tighter controls will be needed to mitigate the associated and very real risks that present themselves .
Riaan Graham , Enterprise Sales Director at CommScope sub-Sahara Africa , said : “ We know that every 10 % of connectivity has the potential to generate 1 % GDP growth and so ensuring not only access to connectivity , but also that we drive down the cost of data , is a critical consideration for the viable growth of our local ecosystem .”
The cost of data is directly relevant to the low Internet penetration rate and is a major barrier to expanding and making affordable broadband services available in Africa ’ s most industrialised economy .
Ilonka Badenhorst , General Manager at WASPA agrees , indicating that : “ As more mobile manufacturers come on board and technology advances , we are now witnessing rapid growth in smartphone uptake and as a result , the demand for better , affordable access to data . Similarly , if we consider that remote working is opening up a whole new category of potential , reliant on mobile , where many more people started using it this year for things like education and digital monetary systems as well as a massive increase in the use of apps – the need for reliable broadband is key .”
While many industry players believe that 5G will be the enabler of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and where stats indicate that 40 % of the globe will be covered by 5G networks by 2024 , handling 25 % of all mobile data , the reality is that as a country South Africa is not there yet .
“ 5G is an expensive technology to deploy and as such , is only done locally in selected high LSM areas and therefore , the adoption of Wi-Fi 6 where it doesn ’ t make economic
It is this growth that will set the tone for massive ecosystem changes this year , but also has the potential to be a driving force for our GDP .
sense for 5G will be necessary – which means we will operate on a hybrid access model , with mobile operators adapting to offer the right data services to connect South Africans effectively ,” said Graham . More access however , results in accessibility for consumers to different resources – with reliance on the Internet for everyday tasks that may once have been done physically .
Graham added that in 2021 , he expects a rapid boom in the mobile ecosystem in Africa with a projected half a billion mobile subscribers this year , one billion mobile connections by 2024 and a 50 % subscriber penetration in the next five years . “ It is this growth that will set the tone for massive ecosystem changes this year , but also has the potential to be a driving force for our GDP . It is now that key aspects around access , education and capability need to be addressed and bed down to truly realise the potential that 2021 and beyond can have on our mobile ecosystem in Africa ,” concluded Graham . •
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