DUBAI, UAE, July 14 -- Delta Partners, the leading management advisory and
investment firm, has released its latest white paper, Mobile Broadband in MEA:
Promises opportunity but not a smooth ride, assessing the potential and risks
for Middle East and African mobile operators to develop their data offer.
The Middle East and Africa region has been the world’s fastest growing
region in terms of mobile penetration growth in the recent past, whilst fixed
penetration has stagnated at 20% and 4% levels in the Middle East and Africa
respectively.
This lack of fixed infrastructure coupled with high costs of service
provisioning has severely hampered the development of broadband, particularly in
Africa. Owing to coverage restrictions and lack of bandwidth, large parts of the
region still witness connectivity delivered via satellites.
Going forward, two key developments are expected to change the existing
landscape. Firstly, the arrival of improved international connectivity via new
submarine cables will enhance bandwidth and lower prices. Secondly, mobile
operators aggressively developing their 3G networks to go beyond their core
voice offerings will result in enhanced availability of high speed networks.
Broadband is increasingly seen as the growth driver for mobile operators and the
mechanism towards creating the stickiness factor particularly for retaining high
value customers.
We believe that nearly 70% of the broadband subscribers in MEA will in fact be
delivered over wireless networks by 2011 up from about 38% today, says Joao
Sousa, Partner at Delta Partners.
This will translate into a significant growth potential for mobile broadband in
MEA, with subscribers expected to grow from 2.5m today to about 40m in 2011. At
a strong ARPU of $10-15 this will represent a market worth around $6 billion in
2011 vs. $1 billion today, he adds.
However, key risks exist especially due to high CAPEX investments required.
This is particularly true for late entrants who struggle to capture minimum
scale in order to recover their investments. To be able to drive success, the
late entrant broadband player would need to adopt a clear set of initiatives.
There are a few success factors operators should consider, such as gaining
access to international connectivity at competitive prices, an efficient network
operation and developing an effective go-to-market approach, says Sosa.
Operators can invest in undersea cable projects to ensure competitiveness, make
informed urban/rural rollout decisions and even consider 3G network sharing in
some regions. Setting up a dedicated customer care channel and targeted value
proposition can also go a long way in ensuring customer development and
retention. This is especially important as high value customers in MEA tend to
constitute only 10-20% of the subscribers but 50-60% of the revenues, he further
adds.
Notes to Editors
Delta Partners is the leading management advisory and investment firm
specialized in Telecoms, Media and Technology (TMT) in emerging markets. It has
more than 130 professionals operating across 50 markets in the Middle East,
Africa, Eastern Europe and Emerging Asia. From its offices in the UAE, Bahrain
and South Africa, Delta Partners provides services through its three highly
synergistic business lines: management advisory, private equity and corporate
finance.
Delta Partners delivers tangible results to its clients and investors through
an exclusive sector focus, and a unique approach to services, combining
strategic advice and a hands-on pragmatic approach.
For further information please contact: Mia Mutic, Marketing Manager, Delta
Partners. Tel: +971-4-369-2999 and mmu@deltapartnersgroup.com or visit
http://www.deltapartnersgroup.com
SOURCE: Delta Partners
For further information please contact: Mia Mutic, Marketing Manager, Delta
Partners. Tel: +971-4-369-2999 and mmu@deltapartnersgroup.com or visit
http://www.deltapartnersgroup.com
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