{"id":31978,"date":"2013-02-23T01:06:55","date_gmt":"2013-02-22T23:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=31978"},"modified":"2013-02-23T01:07:55","modified_gmt":"2013-02-22T23:07:55","slug":"deloitte-forecasts-a-big-year-for-mobile-in-sa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/mobile\/31978\/deloitte-forecasts-a-big-year-for-mobile-in-sa\/","title":{"rendered":"Deloitte forecasts a big year for mobile in SA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Financial services company, Deloitte<\/a> has released its predictions for the South African telecoms sector in 2013 highlighting a slowdown in new mobile connections, but a big boost in data usage.<\/p>\n

According to Deloitte, 2013 holds big things for mobile in South Africa, as smartphone adoption is likely to increase, and with it, data consumption is set to boom.<\/p>\n

However, with a mobile penetration rate of 128%, Deloitte expects a possible slowdown in terms of new mobile connection additions during 2013 compared to previous years.<\/p>\n

In December 2012, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU<\/a>), indicated that South Africa is the fifteenth largest telecommunications market in the world in terms of revenues from the telecommunications services.<\/p>\n

Based on an analysis of the financial reports of Vodacom<\/a>, MTN<\/a> and Telkom<\/a> and certain key press releases by Cell C<\/a>, Deloitte Digital has identified key performance indicators (As of September 2012) for the South African telecommunications industry:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
South African population<\/td>\n51.8 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total mobile connections (active sim cards)<\/td>\n66.1 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total unique subscribers (people)<\/td>\n40.7 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mobile penetration (active connections to population)<\/td>\n128%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Estimated active smartphones in South Africa<\/td>\n11 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Estimated mobile data penetration (data mobile connections)<\/td>\n39%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Weighted blended Average Revenue Per User per month (ARPU)<\/td>\nR119<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Prepaid subscriber base<\/td>\n83%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Post-paid (contract) subscriber base<\/td>\n17%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Based off of this snapshot of the South African market, Deloitte has made the following predictions for the South African telecoms sector in 2013:<\/p>\n