 Mobile cellular communications in the Southern African regionMichael Minges Telecommunications Policy, 1999, vol. 23, issue 7-8, 585-593 Abstract: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries have mobile markets ranging from one of the world's largest GSM networks to fledging new services. Market structures, the extent of competition and the scope of regulation also vary widely. South Africa dominates regional cellular development with over 90% of SADCs nearly three million subscribers. Major factors driving cellular growth are: 1. Substitution for fixed line for customers on waiting lists. 2. The attractiveness of "prepaid", especially for people without credit options. 3. The potential for roaming. Regulation has been light-handed and not consistent across the region, missing a number of opportunities to boost mobile cellular access through license conditions, competition and tariff limitations. If all tariffs fell to the lowest level in the region, then the number of subscribers (excluding South Africa) by the year 2005 could be nearly four times the estimate at current tariffs. With the effective regulation and market stimulation, the region's mobile subscribers could exceed the number of fixed subscribers in only a few years. Keywords: Southern; African; Development; Community; (SADC); Mobile; Cellular (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:telpol:v:23:y:1999:i:7-8:p:585-593 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Telecommunications Policy is currently edited by Erik Bohlin More articles in Telecommunications Policy from Elsevier |
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