Sub-Saharan Africa: 11% CAGR for Capacity Leased Through 2024
April 2, 2015
According
to
Euroconsult's
newly
released
report,
Prospects
for
Satellite
Communications
&
Broadcasting
in Africa,
overall
usage for
satellite
capacity in
Sub-Saharan
Africa
increased at
an 11% CAGR
over
2009-2014
despite the
spread of
terrestrial
fiber
networks and
the decrease
of
international
trunking.
Euroconsult
further
anticipates
an 11% CAGR
for capacity
leased over
the next
decade, for
a total of
close to 200
Gbps of
traffic
flowing over
satellite.
"The
tripling of
TV signals
in the last
five years,
growth in
cellular
backhaul
requirements
and the
addition of
more than
15,000 VSATs
for various
vertical
segments
have all
contributed
to the
emergence of
new
requirements,"
said Pacome
Revillon,
CEO of
Euroconsult
and editor
of the
report. "The
significant
addition of
satellite
capacity
supply has
resulted in
a fill rate
decrease and
in greater
competition
and pricing
pressure."
Multiple drivers support a strong future increase in the use of satellite communication services, including:
- Digital TV growth is still only in its early phase; the transition process to digital terrestrial television has just begun. In parallel, satellite pay-TV, despite the signing of close to 10 million subscribers in the last ten years, is only beginning to penetrate the market
- Mobile penetration keeps increasing along with universal access requirements, while 3G and potentially 4G expansion will create new connectivity requirements
- A variety of segments, such as oil & gas, banking, mining, and government networks will require more connectivity as operations either diversify or expand geographically
- A number of new enterprise hot spot markets are evolving particularly in East and West Africa in addition to the historically strong VSAT markets like South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Kenya and Tanzania. This should contribute to overall market growth across Sub-Saharan Africa
- Broadband access for consumers and enterprises offers new opportunities on the back of new HTS capacities and services. Also, the usage of HTS capacity for trunking should increase for landlocked countries like DR Congo and South Sudan at least in the short to medium term as fiber availability remains limited and unreliable
For
operators,
the ability
to create
new
differentiators
will be key
in a context
of large
capacity
supply,
which
includes the
development
of video
neighborhoods,
of selected
service
platforms
and the
co-development
of projects
with local
service
providers
and
end-users.
For service
and
equipment
providers,
the rollout
of more
sophisticated
and hybrid
solutions
offered
through
domestic
hubs and a
potential
consolidation
of service
providers
should
contribute
to market
growth. The
emergence of
new
free-to-air
and pay-TV
platforms
should also
shape the
future
African TV
market.
