Vodacom to focus on data windfall

Vodacom is investing in the growing data market.

Average data usage per smartphone increased 79% last year, the service provider said in its results for the six months to September.

CEO Shameel Joosub said yesterday that it would accelerate investment in this area.

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the fastest-growing mobile markets in the world, and South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria are the main drivers behind growing usage of social networks on the continent.

The region accounts for about 560million of the 6.6billion mobile users worldwide, according to the 2013 Ericsson Mobility Report for the third quarter, released yesterday. This figure is expected to grow to 930million by 2019.

But mobile penetration is relatively low, at 70%, compared with the global average of 92%.

Vodacom's international consumer base has grown by nearly a quarter in the past year. And active data customers increased by 41%.

Excluding South Africa, data revenue in Africa has doubled from a year ago, the results show.

The Ericsson report credits fast and reliable internet connections in sub-Saharan Africa "for enabling social media activities such as the uploading of videos and pictures and the streaming of content".

Social networking applications such as Facebook, Yahoo! Messenger, WhatsApp and BlackBerry Messenger are among the top 10 high-traffic applications on the continent, said the Global Trends Phenomena report, also released yesterday.

The report noted a "disparity in usage between those subscribers with higher consuming smartphones . and those who are using traditional feature phones".

Affordability was noted as an impediment to growth.