Mobile subscriptions to grow in Middle East and Africa

The number of mobile subscriptions in the Middle East and Africa region will grow from 1.2 billion in 2013 to 1.9 billion in 2019, a new report has said.
According to the Ericsson Mobility report, penetration in the Middle East is currently at 107 per cent with 365 million subscriptions.
By 2019, 50 per cent of handset subscriptions in the Middle East and Africa will be for smartphones, which will drive data traffic growth.
The report said there had been an expected 11-fold increase in data traffic in the CEMEA region (Central Europe, Middle East and Africa between 2013 and 2019, second only to the Asia Pacific region.

"There is a phenomenal growth in the Middle East and Africa region as the development of networks, economic growth and opportunities create more connectivity potential in Sub-Saharan Africa in particular.
"As cities around the region work progressively towards Smart City status, this will continue to build upon the level of M2M connectivity, transporting Middle East and Africa region's residents into the Networked Society," said Teemu Salmi, vice-president and head of operations Ericsson Middle East and North East Africa.

Noting that the total number of mobile subscriptions will exceed the world population next year, the report said mobile subscriptions have grown by seven per cent year-over-year with 120 million net additions in first quarter alone.

Mobile broadband subscriptions also continue to grow and will reach 7.6 billion by the end of 2019, representing more than 80 per cent of total mobile subscriptions, it said.
In 2016, the number of smartphone subscriptions will exceed those for basic phones and by 2019 the number of its subscriptions is expected to reach 5.6 billion.
In Europe, the number of smartphone subscriptions will reach about 765 million in 2019 and thereby exceed the population number, it said.