What Accounts For Low Patronage Of Data Services Over Mobile Networks In Africa?
by David Ajao2005-10-18 00:00:00 | Viewed 2297 times
Some GSM networks in Africa have in recent times been introducing advanced data services on their cellular networks and even upgrading to 2.5G, 2.75G & 3G platforms. Despite this development, patronage of services like GPRS, MMS, EDGE, UMTS is still very low though one would opine that indeed these services are ideal for unwired Africa. What is responsible for this? One wonders.
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I saw a news item on AllAfrica.com recently, that was culled from ThisDay and I think it summarizes the answer to my question. Read on. Frances Ovia (This Day - Nigeria reporter) who was at African Computing & Telecommunications (ACT) 2005 in Sandton, Johannesburg reports. |
"The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) was also intensely discussed. The technology which allows Internet access through the mobile phone is said to have greatly failed in sub-Saharan Africa. The failure has been occasioned by lack of sound marketing strategies by mobile phone operators in the vast region. While delivering a paper "New approach to successful marketing of GPRS, MMS and EDGE in Africa", Bill Herman, the managing director of a Botswana-based consultancy firm, Red Chillies Enterprises said that only three percent of total subscribers in the region use the GPRS technology.
He said that apart from GPRS, operators have failed as well to strategically market both the multimedia message service (MMS) and the Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution (EDGE). MMS allow subscribers to exchange multimedia messages through their mobile phones while EDGE technology combined with GPRS is capable of giving broadband speeds equivalent to 3G for data communication.
The low numbers in GPRS subscribers in the region make potential GSM operators shy away from investing in the technology, Herman said adding that the percentage of subscribers on GPRS is scaring - operators will not invest on the technology since it does not seem to make business sense.
He also pointed out that operators now run the risk of under utilization of their GPRS/EDGE/3G networks. He said that due to unsound marketing strategies, voice calls will remain the main source of revenue for mobile operators in the next 10 years.
At the same session, Wayne McDonald, the African Manager for Gilat Satellite South Africa noted that though Africa has the highest growth on subscriber base, they still cannot afford the costs of accessing data services through their mobile phone. "On the average, subscribers in the region have about US$5 to spend in a month, they will rather use this on voice calls not data services", said McDonald.
Same goes for mobile banking applications. Africans were regaled with talks of how a subscriber could transact almost any kind of business withing the confines of his room without steeping outside his gates, yet they have just been tales of happenings in other lands. Old habits die hard. Fear of security prevents the use of mobile applications.
Issue of trust inhibit e-commerce.
These explain why Africa may yet be listening to more demonstration and watching more slide shows without real visible application of these technoogies in the next few years."
What do you think?
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