Mobile internet usage on the increase in sub-Saharan Africa

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The June 2014 sub-Saharan Africa Ericsson Mobility Report shows that in 2014 phone users accessed 76,000TB (terabyte) of data per month, double the 2013 figure of 37,500TB per month. In 2015 the figures are expected to double again with mobile phone users accessing 147,000TB per month.

The rise of social media, content-rich apps and video content accessed from a new range of cheaper smartphones has prompted the rise. Consumers in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria are also increasingly using video TV and media services from their smartphones.

"A mobile digital revolution"

Fredrik Jejdling, Regional Head of Ericsson sub-Saharan Africa, says: "Sub-Saharan Africa is currently undergoing a mobile digital revolution with consumers, networks and even media companies are wakening up the possibilities of 3G and 4G technology. We have seen the trend emerging over a few years but in the past 12 months the digital traffic has increased over 100% forcing us to revise our existing predictions."

In the next five years, the Report's findings show that the voice call traffic in sub-Saharan Africa will double and there will be an explosion in mobile data with usage in sub-Saharan Africa growing 20 times between 2013 and 2019, twice the anticipated global expansion. By 2019 the report predicts that 75% of mobile subscriptions will be internet inclusive (3G or 4G).

This growth has been predicted following the launch in 2014 of a number of smartphones for under $50 by a number of major device manufacturers allowing the rapid expansion of 3G and 4G technology across the region.

Endless opportunities of m-commerce

Jejdling says: "The rise of cheap smartphones will allow vast portions of the population from middle classes in cities to small businesses in rural areas access to mobile broadband. M-commerce can offer endless opportunities for entrepreneurs and we've found that farmers are fans of mobile wallets as well as teenagers wanting to watch music videos on their smartphone."

Ericsson regularly performs traffic measurements in over 100 live networks across the world and predictions have been made in collaboration with Ericsson ConsumerLab, utilising population, macroeconomic trends combined with the company's own anonymised data. Ericsson is the largest provider of managed services, building and improving the reach and efficacy of mobile networks, in sub-Saharan Africa and globally.