Africa to lead global bandwidth growth, says TeleGeography

Africa's international bandwidth demand will skyrocket at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 51 percent between 2012 and 2019, according to a TeleGeography Global report.

The research firm said if growth continues at this rate the region would surpass both both Latin America and the Middle East, which are both projected to rise 37 percent annually during this period.

Telegeography international bandwidth demand

Angola, Tanzania and Gabon will see the most growth at 71, 68 and 67 percent a year, respectively.

Despite its potential, Africa's traffic is small compared to other regions. By 2019, the region's traffic demand will reach 17.2 Tbps, which TeleGeography says is equal to "only one-fourth the projected demand of Latin America, and less than that of Canada alone."

Regardless of its size, Alan Mauldin, research director, said that international capacity to Africa will increase via upgrades to existing and new submarine cable systems such as Main One, and bandwidth costs will continue to decline.

"The price of a 10 Gbps wavelength between Johannesburg and London in 2019 is projected to be less than a quarter of the 2012 price," Mauldin said. "Moreover, as bandwidth buyers transition to larger circuits, they will be able to obtain greater volume discounts, compounding the effect of bandwidth price declines."

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