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Africa and Middle East mobile revenues to burgeon

Edited by the Marketingservicestalk editorial team Jul 10, 2008

Operator-billed service revenues across the Africa and Middle East region are expected to rise to more than $107 billion in 2013, according to a report from Juniper Research.

The report found that growth would be driven by mobile data services, fuelled by the greater availability and wider variety of rich-media content coupled with lower browsing costs.

However, it noted that regional operator-billed voice revenues were likely to peak in 2011 and would subsequently fall away due to increasingly competitive pricing in that sector.

Juniper Research report author Dr Windsor Holden said: "While the downward trend in regional ARPU will continue as adoption increases among lower-usage customers, we expect the decline in voice ARPU to be partially offset by an increase in data revenues, both among 2.5G and 3G customers".

The report also observed that the region was likely to witness a surge in the growth of mobile financial services, with a raft of operator-led payment initiatives such as M-PESA and mobile banking providers such as WIZZIT having already gained substantial user bases.

Other findings from the Juniper Research report include the follwoing.

The Middle East/Africa mobile user base is to grow at an average annual rate of 10.5 per cent between 2008 and 2013.

Mobile data services are expected to contribute 24 per cent of operator-billed service revenues in 2013, against just 9 per cent in 2008.

Saudi Arabia will provide the largest share of cumulative regional revenues over the forecast period, followed by Nigeria.

The detailed report provides in-depth coverage and forecasts for six key Africa and Middle East markets (Egypt, Israel, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates) as well as for the region as a whole.

It also includes regional overviews for key revenue drivers including mobile advertising, mobile entertainment services, mobile financial services and mobile ticketing.

white papers and further details of the study 'Mobile Africa and Middle East: Opportunities, Markets and Forecasts 2008-2013' can be freely downloaded from the Juniper website.