DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Democratic Republic of Congo - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
Key Developments
- Helios Towers completes major tower infrastructure upgrade;
- Huawei Marine completes second phase of a WACS cable upgrade;
- LTE-suitable licenses issued, with Vodacom and Orange launching limited services;
- European Investment Bank financing the construction of 750 mobile towers in remote areas;
- Incumbent telco SCPT seeking to quadruple fibre capacity from landing station to Kinshasa, addressing a key bottleneck;
- Fibre link between Brazzaville and Kinshasa completed;
- Regulator enforces deactivation of unregistered SIM cards;
- Includes operator data to Q4 2018, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of COVID-19 on the telecoms sector, recent market developments.
Largely due to the country's troubled history, the national telecom system remains one of the least developed in the region. The government can only loosely regulate the sector, and since the national telco SCPT has little capital to invest so much of the investment in infrastructure is from donor countries or from the efforts of foreign (particularly Chinese) companies and banks. Efforts have been made to improve regulating the telecom sector, with a revised Telecommunications Act adopted in May 2018, though the practical implementation of the Act's measures remains questionable.
Given the limited and decrepit condition of fixed-line infrastructure the mobile network operators have become the principal providers of basic telecom services. More than a dozen new licenses were issued in the early years of the century, but many of the licenses failed to launch services and the proliferation of networks, as well as the poor monitoring of spectrum assets, caused frequent problems with spectrum shortages, interference and compatibility issues. As a result, the mobile entered a period of consolidation, including the acquisition of Tigo Congo by Orange Congo in April 2016, which greatly increased the latter's market share.
The development of the DRC's internet and broadband market has been held back by the poorly developed national and international infrastructure. However, the country was finally connected to international bandwidth through the WACS submarine fibre optic cable in 2013, while SCPT is rolling out a fibre optic national backbone network with support from China. International bandwidth is still limited, and as a result internet pricing is high and backhaul capacity (for both fixed and mobile internet services) is low. An alternative terrestrial international fibre connection exists via neighbouring countries.
The country's first commercial LTE networks were launched, albeit geographically limited, in May 2018 soon after LTE licenses were issued. Mobile operators are keen to develop mobile data services, capitalising on the growth of smartphones usage, but in mid-2016 their attempts to dramatically increase mobile internet pricing was criticised by the regulator.
The outbreak of the Coronavirus in 2020 is having a significant impact on production and supply chains globally.
During the coming year the telecoms sector to various degrees is likely to experience a downturn in mobile device production, while it may also be difficult for network operators to manage workflows when maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructure. Overall progress towards 5G may be postponed or slowed down in some countries.
On the consumer side, spending on telecoms services and devices is under pressure from the financial effect of large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes. However, the crucial nature of telecom services, both for general communication as well as a tool for home-working, will offset such pressures.
Although it is challenging to predict and interpret the long-term impacts of the crisis as it develops, these have been acknowledged in the industry forecasts contained in this report.
The report also covers the responses of the telecom operators as well as government agencies and regulators as they react to the crisis to ensure that citizens can continue to make optimum use of telecom services. This can be reflected in subsidy schemes and the promotion of tele-health and tele-education, among other solutions.
Key Topics Covered
1 Key statistics
2 Country overview
3 COVID-19 and its impact on the telecom sector
3.1 Economic considerations and responses
3.2 Mobile devices
3.3 Subscribers
3.4 Infrastructure
4 Telecommunications market
4.1 Historical overview
5 Regional Africa Market Comparison
5.1 TMI vs GDP
5.2 Mobile and mobile broadband
5.3 Fixed and mobile broadband
6 Regulatory environment
6.1 Historical overview
6.2 Regulatory authority
6.3 Competition in the telecom sector
6.4 Interconnection
6.5 Privatisation
7 Fixed network operators
7.1 SCPT (formerly OCPT)
8 Telecommunications infrastructure
8.1 Overview of the national telecom network
8.2 National backbone
8.3 Tatem Telecom
8.4 Other operators
8.5 International infrastructure
9 Fixed-line broadband market
9.1 Introduction and statistical overview
9.2 Broadband statistics
9.3 ISP market
9.4 Internet exchange points (IXP)
9.5 Internet satellite
10 Mobile market
10.1 Market analysis
10.2 Mobile statistics
10.3 Mobile data
10.4 Mobile broadband
10.5 Regulatory issues
10.6 Mobile infrastructure
10.7 Major mobile operators
10.8 Mobile content and applications
11 Glossary of abbreviations
Companies Mentioned
- Vodacom Congo
- Bharti Airtel (Zain, Celtel)
- Millicom (Tigo)
- Congo Chine Telecom (CCT, Orange Congo)
- Africell (Lintel)
- Socit Congolais des Postes et des Tlcommunications (SCPT)
- Tatem Telecom
- Gecamines
- AfriTel (Starcel)
- Standard Telecom
- Telecel International
- Africanus.net
- Interconnect (Vodanet)
- Microcom
- Cielux Telecom
- Global Broadband Solution (GBS)
- Afrinet
- Congo Korea Telecom
- Geolink
- ICP Net
- Orioncom
- Paconet (Pan African Communication Network)
- RagaNet
- Roffe Hi-Tech
- Sattel
- Socit Internet Congolaise (SIC)
- Sogetel
- Liquid Telecom
- O3b Networks
- Smile Telecom
- Alcatel-Lucent
- Ericsson
- Huawei Technologies
- ZTE
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