Mobile households

ictDATA.org: MOTION CHARTS

• Quarter Century of Mobile Phones in Africa
• Broadband Homes













GAPMINDER COMMUNICATIONS CHARTS

• Broadband subscribers • Broadband subscribers (per 100 people)

Broadband in Homes 2000-2009

The proportion of homes with a broadband connection is a more precise and comparable indicator than overall broadband subscriptions per 100 people. This chart plots the percentage of homes with broadband plotted against GDP per capita (in PPPs). The size of the bubbles show the relative household sizes in each country and the colors reflect the region. Data are primary source from national regulatory agencies and national statistical offices. The GDP per capita data is from the IMF. The lack of information for many countries does not necessarily mean homes do not have broadband but rather there is no official data. As more data becomes available (hopefully through the 2010 Census round that many countries are undertaking) it will be added.

A Quarter Century of Mobile Telephones in Africa

PUSH THE ARROW KEY ABOVE TO START -- CHANGE "LIN" TO "LOG" FOR GDP PER CAPITA -- POSITION MOUSE OVER BUBBLE TO SEE COUNTRY NAME & DATA

Africa celebrated its 25th year of mobile cellular telephony this year. From big analog handsets costing thousands of dollars to the latest 3G networks, the continent has come a long way. The motion chart shows mobile penetration (subscriptions per 100 people) movement, plotted against per capita GDP (in purchasing power parity). The size of each bubble reflects the country's population and the color indicates the number of active mobile operators. Note that countries do not show up on the chart until they launched a mobile network so the early years are quite empty. The real action starts at the turn of the century when there was a solid mass of countries with competitive GSM markets.

The first mobile network in Africa was an analog Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) system launched in Tunisia in April 1985. GSM arrived in 1994, first in April in Morocco and then two months later in South Africa. The first commercial 3G network started in Mauritius in November 2004. The continent reached its first million mobile subscriptions in 1996, it doubled the next year, hit 15 million in 2000, over 100 million in 2005 and stood at 440 million in 2009. Penetration reached one per 100 people in 1999, 14 years after mobile began in Africa, and stood at 45 at the end of 2009. Five countries had a penetration greater than 100 in 2009 and it is forecast that they will be joined by another 19 by 2015 when overall penetration will reach equal some three quarters of the African population (ictDATA.org forecast).

Watching the motion raises questions about whether income drives mobile or whether it is the other way around. A number of countries have a spurt in growth when they reach a per capita income of $1,000 while others have a large jump after the introduction of additional operators. Practically all countries have grown mobile penetration even when per capita incomes declined. The overall trend shows a pretty clear relation between income and penetration.

Penetration data can be misleading due to multiple subscriptions and inactive users. ictDATA.org is currently compiling a data set of household ownership of mobile phones for Africa, a more telling indicator of mobile telephone access. Preliminary research indicates that mobiles outnumber all consumer durables in some countries and often have a higher household penetration than electricity.

Population and GDP per capita statistics are from the World Economic Outlook database of the International Monetary Fund. The mobile penetration figures have been compiled by ict DATA.org from primary source reports of government agencies and mobile operators. For information about the data, the sources used or the underlying data to construct the chart, contact ictDATA.org.