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Mobile cellular communications in the Southern African region

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  • Minges, Michael

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Minges, Michael, 1999. "Mobile cellular communications in the Southern African region," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(7-8), pages 585-593, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:23:y:1999:i:7-8:p:585-593
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Karippacheril, Tina George & Nikayin, Fatemeh & de Reuver, Mark & Bouwman, Harry, 2013. "Serving the poor: Multisided mobile service platforms, openness, competition, collaboration and the struggle for leadership," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 24-34.
    2. Akematsu, Yuji & Shinohara, Sobee & Tsuji, Masatsugu, 2012. "Empirical analysis of factors promoting the Japanese 3G mobile phone," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 175-186.
    3. Akematsu, Yuji & Abu, Sheikh Taher & Tsuji, Masatsugu, 2010. "Empirical Study of Effect of Deregulation, Competition, and Contents on Mobile Phone Diffusion: Case of the Japanese 3G Market," 21st European Regional ITS Conference, Copenhagen 2010: Telecommunications at new crossroads - Changing value configurations, user roles, and regulation 1, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    4. Buys, Piet & Dasgupta, Susmita & Thomas, Timothy S. & Wheeler, David, 2009. "Determinants of a Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Spatial Econometric Analysis of Cell Phone Coverage," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1494-1505, September.
    5. Sheikh Taher ABU & Masatsugu TSUJI, 2010. "The Determinants of the Global Mobile Telephone Deployment: An Empirical Analysis," Informatica Economica, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 14(3), pages 21-33.
    6. Peters, Kay & Albers, Sönke & Kumar, V., 2008. "Is there more to international Diffusion than Culture? An investigation on the Role of Marketing and Industry Variables," EconStor Preprints 27678, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    7. Sheikh Taher ABU, 2014. "Competition and Innovation in Telecom Sector: Empirical Evidence from OECD Countries," Informatica Economica, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 18(1), pages 27-39.
    8. Hübler, Michael, 2015. "Labor mobility and technology diffusion: A new concept and its application to rural Southeast Asia," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 137-151.
    9. Andonova, Veneta & Diaz-Serrano, Luis, 2009. "Political institutions and telecommunications," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 77-83, May.
    10. Jentzsch, Nicola, 2012. "Implications of mandatory registration of mobile phone users in Africa," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 608-620.
    11. Shinohara, Sobee & Morikawa, Hiroyuki & Tsuji, Masatsugu, 2015. "Competition or smartphones? Factors promote mobile broadband adoption in OECD countries," 2015 Regional ITS Conference, Los Angeles 2015 146349, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    12. Shinohara, Sobee & Morikawa, Hiroyuki & Tsuji, Masatsugu, 2016. "How Smartphones Transformed Market and Competition of Mobile Broadband in OECD Member Countries," 27th European Regional ITS Conference, Cambridge (UK) 2016 148704, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    13. Varadharajan Sridhar, 2010. "An econometric analysis of mobile services growth across regions of India," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 205-220, October.

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