Mobile internet revenue in the Middle East, Latin America and Africa are bound to double its cost between 2013 and 2018, says a new report by ABI Research.
The report is supported by the strong per subscription data consumption which is increasing at CAGRs of 45-49%.This means that the data traffic will double in less than every two years on average; this is caused by the increased availability of affordable smart devices in the near future.
It has been predicted that in 2018, Latin America and Middle East will be seeing an average user contributing more than 2.5 Gigabytes of traffic per month.
With the low literacy levels in Africa, the messaging has been in very low volume, however, with the fastest mobile subscription growth and over-the-top applications being less prevalent, it will be the only region to enjoy consistent positive messaging service revenue growth throughout the entire forecast horizon.
Research associate at ABI Research said: “Nonetheless, a key determinant of the future consumption pattern will be the regulatory policies in the regions, For instance, the recent implementation of mobile number portability measure in Nigeria and the reduction in mobile termination rate in Honduras and Jamaica will go a long way in shaping the competitive landscape and encourage cellular usage.”
These rising trends do not certainly suggest improved profitability. The vice president and practice director, Jake Saunders, said that operators the specified regions need to be prepared to respond to the new competition policies.
Saunders gave an example of slashing termination rates; this would mean that consumers will have fewer reasons to subscribe to different operators simultaneously. He also predicted that the battle to gain market share would become more intense.