Backbone deployments being spurred by 4G
One of the main problems encountered by landlocked countries is the fact of not being connected to submarine cables. Several continental projects are seeking to resolve this issue. In most instances, these are projects involving countries that are part of the same sub-region, and broken down into several stages. There are multiple objectives attached to these projects, including: to connect the countries to the rest of the world, ensure interconnection between national telecommunications networks, whenever necessary to push for the introduction of regulation adapted to the market’s needs and to stimulate the creation of an environment that is propitious to the development des ICT and, finally, to decrease the price of telecom and Internet services for citizens. The deployment of national and transnational backbones has evolved considerably, spurred in large part by mobile operators’ data service requirements.
FTTH/B becoming a reality in Africa
Fibre to the home is not new in Africa and the Middle East where the Gulf states have proven to be pioneers: the United Arab Emirates is the region’s biggest market, with 1.5 million FTTH/B subscribers at the end of 2016, followed by Saudi Arabia with close to 700,000 fi bre to the home/building subscribers. And tiny Qatar reports an impressive 98% of customers subscribing to FTTH. Outside these very wealthy countries, a number of initiatives are underway in Africa: first in South Africa, the continental leader and home to several private open access initiatives, and close to 600,000 subscribers as of mid-2016. Fibre rollouts are kicking off in many other countries as well: in East Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Rwanda in particular, which are connected to the Liquid Telecom backbone. Up north, there are already several thousand fi bre subscribers in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, and the little island of Mauritius is among the regional leaders. As it stands, FTTH access is still confi ned largely to business districts, business parks and select residential areas. But fibre to the home/premises could well begin to take off as smart city projects develop, especially in new cities where new generation access networks will be pre-installed in all newly built homes. Plus the growing middle class will mean a larger potential market. In total then, there were more than 3.8 million FTTH/B subscribers in the region in 2016, of which three quarters are located in the Middle East. According to our forecasts, this figure will climb to 6.2 million by 2021, which means the take-up rate amongst households will remain very low: standing at less than 0.5% between now and 2021.
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