Mobile Industry In Africa : Angolan Mobile IndustryBlazing A Trail

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Aug 14, 2014 8:00:00 AM

Angola is very much an African success story. One of West Africa's most vibrant economies due to itsvast oil wealth, the Angolan mobile industry has begun to flourish following the devastating civil warwhich ended in 2002.

Compared to the overall mobile industry in Africa, Angola's mobile infrastructure is quite healthy, asthey have a mobile phone subscription rate of around 70%. That's just under 13 Million, out of theirpopulation of 18.5 Million.

This leaves plenty of room for growth which will interest mobile operators, and in this blog we're goingto look at the state of the Angolan mobile industry, and how this affects African mobile operators...

Phoenix From The Ashes

Don't let Angola's oil wealth fool you into thinking that things are easy there however. Tragically 70% ofAngola's infrastructure was destroyed, and Millions of people killed during their 26 year civil warfollowing independence from Portugal.

The government is at least partly harnessing the oil wealth to improve things for the people,spending $4.3 billion per year to rebuild the infrastructure which is the equivalent to 14% of its GDP .

However they're not out of the woods yet, and the many minefields, and lack of medical care andinfrastructure in certain areas are still negatively affecting Angolans' wealth and life expectancy.

That said, the only way is up, and one of the ways that Angola is blazing a trail in Africa is through itsadvanced mobile network. There may only be 2 mobile operators at present, Unitel and Movicel, but injust a decade they have built a mobile network giving 70% of Angolans a phone in their pocket!

First Across The Line With 4G

Interestingly, Angola was also the first African country to have a 4G network, beating mostEuropean countries to the punch, as well as the whole of Africa! Movicel put $100 Million dollars intogetting it off the ground, and the belief is that a strong mobile infrastructure will help the economy togrow.

ZTE of China is helping Movicel to realise its dream of covering Angola with a 4G network, which willfinally cost more than $1 Billion.

The goal is to increase 4G subscribers to the Millions around the country, rather than merely a selectfew in cities like the capital, Luanda.

It is very likely that 4G will mainly benefit the oil industry and wealthier people in bigger cities, howeveras it rolls out across the country as a whole, the faster mobile internet speeds will offer every Angolan a

level of functionality and information resource that many in Africa don't have. Even if the country'sinfrastructure is lagging behind, the advanced mobile network is bound to be a help to many of itspeople.

Smartphones Ahead Of Computers

As we've seen in other countries, smartphone adoption is growing at a faster rate than computers witha fixed internet connection.

Angola, like many African countries, has a much more mature mobile network than cabled internetnetwork. Remote environments, coupled with a vast country overall mean that laying cables is difficultand slow (although that's not to say that regular internet isn't on the rise there as well, as it is slowlybecoming more popular in the major cities).

Angolan people are generally quite poor, with around 70% living below the poverty line of $2 per day .They therefore lack the capital to buy a computer, and fixed internet connection. This is not unusual formany African countries, so the obvious choice is to invest less into a smartphone, and still be able toaccess the web and do work.

A great hope is that the 4G network will give Angolans with smartphones the ability to advance theirlives with the benefit of super fast mobile internet, and that it will help them to do business, check pricesfor their produce and goods when trading, and have access to educational and medical information thatthey just wouldn;t otherwise be able to get.

Future Growth

Economy-wise the Angolan economy continues to enjoy double digit growth each year thanks to its offshore oil industry. There is also a lot more interest from foreign trading partners, most obviously theChinese, who are trading and helping to build the infrastructure of Angola (such as putting internetconnections in place for secondary school children across the country, and building the 4G network asmentioned above) as one of their terms of partnership.

As for the Angolan mobile industry, it will continue to gather pace for 3 reasons:

1. The mobile saturation is only at 70%, leaving around 5 Million people who have yet to get amobile phone.

2. The Angolan mobile phone network is advanced, with 3G and 4G available in many areas. Butwithout smartphones there's no way for Angolan mobile users to enjoy its mobile internet andfast speeds. Since most users aren't using a smartphone, the adoption of smartphones willcontinue to grow rapidly.

3. The rural poor, Angola's poorest people, will be the ones who are getting a mobile for the firsttime, and they can benefit most from what it gives them. Now the ability to advance theireducation, work, and lives with 3G and 4G, gives a whole new user base a reason to invest in amobile phone subscription that just wasn't there before.

How Do Mobile Operators In Angola Move Forwards?

Angola is very much a "work in progress," and as such there are many opportunities available formobile operators.

In the more affluent cities 4G coverage is common, and so offering sophisticated 4G smart phones andtablets, along with contracts with a large data allowance will be a great way to gain subscribers.

Amongst the rest of the country the onus should be on converting people to switch from feature phonesto smartphones on a 3G (or 4G) network. You'll be able to do this by offering low cost smartphones andeducating them about how mobile internet can improve their lives.

If you're ready to take advantage of Angola's advanced mobile infrastructure then you'll need a greatpartner, and AMGOO Telecom co is ready to help you!Learn how AMGOO can offer you great phones that are ideal for emerging markets, and marketingsupport by clicking below:

Topics: Smartphone Adoption in Africa , Africa mobile industry