Q&A: peter lyons GSM Association

As mobile uptake rockets across Africa, fuelling connectivity across the continent and boosting the popularity of mobile-based economic activities, HumanIPO speaks to Peter Lyons, director of public policy for the Africa and Middle East region at the GSM Association (GSMA), about how to leverage mobile to spur further growth, and what issues policy makers should be focusing on to facilitate connectivity in Africa.

HumanIPO: What are the drivers of the significant growth in mobile uptake across Africa?

Lyons: Prices for mobile services have fallen substantially over recent years, driven by a range of factors including increasing competition in a number of markets, decreased equipment prices (both in terms of handsets and infrastructure for mobile networks), as well as growing scale for the operators.

 The mobile operators themselves have played an important role with ongoing investments to improve network coverage as well as to introduce new service offerings that can attract lower income subscribers. For example, prices have fallen in Kenya by 20 per cent per year over the last four years and by 15 per cent per year over the same period in Senegal.

source: www.humanipo.com

vodafone spends billions to upgrade network coverage

vodafdone is  to spend £7bn upgrading its networks, with an extra £300m committed to the UK, as it prepares for an end to the European economic crisis.

Hundreds of new masts and radios will be installed to boost coverage, with London benefiting from £150m of spend over the next two years, and a 30% increase in masts.

A further £150m will go to the rest of the UK, bringing to £1.2bn the sum Vodafone will spend on its British network over the next three years.

The money is earmarked to improve 3G coverage and roll out faster 4G technology, and to expand Vodafone's retail empire.

"Whilst trading conditions in Europe remain very tough at present," said the Vodafone chief executive, Vittorio Colao, "we are encouraged by the forecast return to economic growth over the next two years and the potential for a shift in regulatory focus to support greater industry investment and consolidation."

Vodafone on Tuesday added £1bn to the £6bn of cash earmarked for Project Spring, which will pay for faster and wider mobile internet coverage and expand the group's TV and broadband activities on the continent following the $130bn (£81bn) sale of its stake in Verizon Wireless.

The company is betting that a European turnaround will counter another half-year of rapidly falling revenues in its major markets.

Organic service revenue – which includes calls, texts and data charges but excludes handsets – was down nearly 5% in the six months to 30 September across the group, with northern and central Europe down 5% and southern Europe nearly 16%. Revenues in Asia and Africa rose nearly 6%.

UK service revenue decreased 4.4%, while in Italy the decline was nearly 17%.

As well as providing cash for networks, the Verizon sale allowed Vodafone to book nearly £17bn of deferred tax losses that it will use to reduce its tax payments over the long term.

source: www.theguardian.com

U.S smartphone buyers moving upscale while others goes cheap

Smartphone prices are falling in every region of the world except North America, as U.S. consumers buy ever more sophisticated handsets.

Market research firm IDC forecast Tuesday that smartphone prices worldwide will fall at a compound annual rate of 7.3% over the next five years. But in North America, it sees average selling prices for smartphones increasing 2.1%. It's the only region where prices are expected to rise, IDC says.

Smartphone prices in the U.S. and Canada are already the most expensive in the world, with an average selling price of $531 this year. But IDC sees that creeping up to $567 by 2017 as consumers upgrade to phones with bigger displays and 4G LTE wireless capabilities. Premium phones from Apple, Samsung and others are seen driving this trend.

We're a market that's moving away from entry-level smartphones and toward higher-end smartphones," IDC analyst Ramon Llamas told IBD. "We're moving more toward LTE, and LTE smartphones usually command a higher price tag than 3G phones. On top of that, you're seeing phones getting bigger and bigger (displays)."

Apple's latest flagship handset, the iPhone 5S, without a wireless service contract, costs $649, $749 and $849 for models with 16, 32 and 64 gigabytes of flash memory.

In the rest of the world, smartphone average selling prices are seen falling rapidly as handset makers produce lower-cost devices for poorer customers. These devices typically use Google 's  free-to-use Android operating system.

Average selling prices for smartphones worldwide, including North America, are seen falling to $265 in 2017 from $337 this year.

In the Asia-Pacific region, prices are forecast to drop 8.9% to $215 over the next five years. In Europe, smartphone prices are seen falling 9% to $259 during that period. In Latin America, smartphone prices are expected to dip 5.7% to $246. And in the Middle East and Africa, smartphone prices are forecast to decline 7.3% to $230 by 2017, IDC says.

Meanwhile, worldwide smartphone unit shipments are seen rising at a compound annual growth rate of 18.4% from this year to 2017, IDC says. The research firm expects smartphone shipments to surpass 1 billion units in 2013, up 39.3% over last year, and approach 1.7 billion units in 2013.

source: news.investors.com