South Africa to Have over 161 Million Dual Play Subscribers in 2016: Frost

South Africa is emerging as a new destination for telecom service providers to tap new revenue opportunities, according to Frost & Sullivan, an independent research agency. Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) said that the South African market had 19.12 million dual play subscribers in 2009 and estimates this to reach 161.02 million in 2016.

According to Frost & Sullivan report called, “Sub Saharan African Network Convergence (News - Alert) Market,” declining voice revenues due to price differentiation are fueling investments into broadband data services. This will promote convergence.

Convergence turns telecom networks into customer-centric services-oriented platforms that promote subscriber retention and revenue growth.

“The demand for converged services will grow in all market segments and will be driven by increasing broadband penetration,” said Vitalis G. Ozianyi, ICT senior research analyst at Frost & Sullivan, in a statement. “Communication Service Providers (CSPs) are investing in broadband data services to create new revenue sources to overcome declining voice average revenue per user (ARPUs).”

The convergence-driven broadband will support new services like TV and Web services. These services can be marketed as converged products. These broadband products will enhance telecom operators’ competitiveness based on service differentiation.

However, operators may face slowdown during migration to converged network platforms due to lack of strong business models. Mobile voice revenues are the backbone for operators’ income in Africa. They are ready to introduce independent services that will not influence income from voice.

Operators are introducing broadband data services as separate subscriptions from voice. The same trend is expected for video services like mobile TV.

Nigeria will reign as Africa’s fastest-growing telecom market over the next five years, fueled by several new entrants, the launch of mobile value-added and broadband services, according to a new Pyramid Research report. The country also recently experienced the introduction of mobile number portability and mobile termination rate cuts.