South African Broadband Market

Publication Date	September 2009
Publisher	Frost & Sullivan
Product Type	Report
Pages	113
ISBN Number	not applicable
Product Code	FRS01267

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Summary

The South African Broadband Market Shows Consistent Growth, with Opportunities for Internet Service Providers and Vendors

The South African broadband market has been growing consistently at over 30.0 per cent in the last two years and is expected to continue growing in the next two years. The country's top operators are still engaged in the critical activity of increasing the broadband penetration in South Africa, despite the expense of the network infrastructure roll-out in the country. There are immense opportunities for the Internet service providers (ISPs) and vendors because all electronic communications network services (ECNS) license holders are currenltly permitted to self-provision. "The introduction of undersea cables and the anticipation that prices will be lowered due to new competition has resulted in greater optimism about broadband services with higher rates of uptake," says the analyst of this research. "Operators have decided to provide better value to their clients and this trend is likely to intensify over the next three years."

However, the market's ability to capitalise on the potential connectivity of undersea cables depends on the level of national infrastructure. Unfortunately, the required quality of infrastructure is still lacking in South Africa. Operators such as Mobile Telephone Networks (MTN), Neotel (Pty) Ltd., and Telkom SA Limited are working towards addressing this challenge. "A lack of sufficient infrastructure is the main threat to the growth of broadband in the country," explains the analyst. "Most people utilise mobile technology which is still very expensive and out of the reach of many people in the country."

ISPs should understand the nature of their customer base. Engaging in customer segmentation processes will help them understand who their clients actually are and also reveal the best way, in which to offer services to these clients.