
By Alex C
Telecommunications companies in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, are hoping that the recent foray into digital content development as a viable means of driving broadband usage amongst subscribers will offset the steady decline in voice revenue, industry experts say.
In recent times, voice service pricing are taking a huge toll due to intense competitive and regulatory pressures, according to them. With mobile Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) declining by 4 percent in FY 2013, driven largely by cuts to mobile termination rates fain April last year, industry experts predicts that the telecoms market will witness a wave of growth in digital content over the coming 12 months. Interestingly, smartphone ownership is exploding as subscribers become more sophisticated in the usage of mobile applications.
The number of smartphone users is set to rise to more than 35 million in 2017 from 5.6 million at the end of 2012, according to a research study by Informa Telecoms & Media.
“African telecom service providers are intensifying their efforts to develop their own application stores and generate local content, with smartphone shipments up more than 40 percent year Helon-year in 2013”, said Spiwe Chireka, programme manager for telecommunications and media at IDC Africa.
These developments and growth in mobile data consumption through smart devices are setting the scene for spread and use of smartphones and mobile applications in 2014, according to Chireka. 57.8 million subscribers on the network of major GSM firms in Nigeria use mobile data, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Currently, mobile operators and phone manufacturers are seeking direct ties with indigenous software applications developers with a view to pushing out more devices packed with locally relevant digital content into the market.
“Content and applications drive broadband usage. So, we are supporting local content development by providing sponsorships to app developers” Osondu Nwokoro, director, regulatory affairs, Airtel Nigeria said.
As app developers earns 50 percent to 70 percent of retail price via the app-store platforms of Apple, Google, Blackberry and Windows incubating young developers’ innovation could have significant multiplier effect on the economy.
In view of this, a rash of software incubation centres and accelerators has also erupted in Lagos – another development that supports the emergence of a digital economy.
MTN, emerging market focused firm, recently opened up its network to indigenous mobile applications developers seeking a platform to showcase the unique innovation. Meanwhile, telecoms operators have continued to invest in broadband infrastructure deployment to cater to the growing demand for mobile data.
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