Report: LTE Subscriptions to Hit 310m in sub-Saharan Africa By 2023

Following the growth of technology evolution and the global acceptance of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology that is currently driving the adoption of 4G and 5G technologies, Ericsson, a global technology company has predicted that LTE subscriptions will expand by 47 per cent from 30million in 2017 to 310 million by 2023 in sub-Saharan Africa.

The latest Ericsson Mobility Report also forecasts that mobile subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa are expected to grow by six per cent, between 2017 and 2023, from 700 million mobile subscriptions in 2017 to 990 million subscriptions by 2023.

Moreover, mobile traffic in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 49 per cent, while mobile subscriptions for the total MEA region are expected to grow at four per cent CAGR between 2017 and 2023, from 1.59 billion in 2017 to 2.03 billion by 2023, the report added.

It however explained that margin equates to three per cent growth in the Middle East and North Africa, from 890 million mobile subscriptions to 1.04 billion subscriptions between 2017 and 2023.

On the other hand, mobile broadband subscriptions are forecast to grow by 15 per cent for the MEA region from 820 million in 2017 to 1.85 billion by 2023. This is broken down into a 13 per cent increase for the Middle East and North Africa from 460 million mobile broadband subscriptions in 2017 to 980 million by 2023. Similarly, sub-Saharan Africa mobile broadband subscriptions are forecasted to grow by 16 per cent from 350 million in 2017 to 880 million by 2023, the report indicated.

When it comes to LTE subscriptions, the MEA region is expected to grow by 29 per cent from 190 million to 860 million by 2023. This means that LTE subscriptions in the Middle East and North Africa will grow by 23 per cent from 160 million in 2017 to 570 million by 2023.

Analysing the report further, Head of Ericsson Middle East and Africa, Rafiah Ibrahim, said: “Total mobile traffic for the region is forecasted to grow by around 49 per cent annually between 2017 and 2023. This rapid growth is seeing operators increasingly exploring methods of optimising their networks with more capacity and coverage. We are supporting operators across the region throughout the different phases of the network evolution, enabling best performing networks and differentiated customer experience.”

The report also mentioned that in the Middle East and North Africa, strong growth is forecasted for both Wideband Code Division Multiple Access/ High Speed Packet Access (WCDMA/HSPA) and LTE during the period. Combined, these technologies will see a rise from 50 per cent to over 90 per cent of total subscriptions by the end of the period, Ibrahim said.

According to the report, the first 5G subscriptions in the Middle East and North Africa were expected from 2020, reaching around 17 million subscriptions by the end of 2023.