Telecom services in Madagascar have benefited from intensifying competition between the main operators, including Orange Madagascar, Airtel, and the incumbent telco Telma.
There have been positive developments with the country’s link to international submarine cables, particularly the METISS cable connecting to South Africa and Mauritius. In addition, the country’s connection to the Africa-1 cable, expected in late 2023, will provide it with links to Kenya, Djibouti, countries in north and south Africa, as well Pakistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and France.
A national fibre backbone has been implemented connecting the major cities. Telma has progressively expanded the network to reach smaller towns. In addition, the government has progressed with its five-year plan to develop a digital platform running to 2024. Various schemes within the program have been managed by a unit within the President’s office.
Penetration rates in all market sectors remain below the average for the African region, and so there remains considerable growth potential. However, much progress was made in 2020, stimulated by the particular conditions related to the pandemic, which encouraged greater use of voice and data services.
Key Developments:
- Airtel Africa partners with Unicef to provide internet services to schools in Madagascar; sells its tower infrastructure to Helios Towers;
- Telma ordered to suspend its 5G service, removes obsolete CDMA lines;
- METISS submarine cable comes into commercial use, connecting Madagascar with South Africa and Mauritius;
- Regulator proposes revision of wholesale internet pricing in a bid to improve competition;
- Madagascar hosts landing station for the Africa-1 cable system;
- Gulfsat Madagascar secures licence to become the second national backbone provider;
- Orange Madagascar completes national LTE-A network upgrade;
- Telecom service tax drops to 8%;
- Report update includes the regulator's market data updates for 2020, telcos' operating data to Q4 2021, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of the pandemic on the telecoms sector, recent market developments.
Get a Full Copy of this Report
Developing Telecoms market report summaries are produced in partnership with BuddeCom, the world’s largest continually updated online telecommunications research service.
The above article is a summary of the following BuddeCom report:
Report title: Madagascar - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses
Edition: March 2022
Analysts: Henry Lancaster, Peter Lange
Number of pages: 123
Single User PDF Licence Price: US$890
Companies mentioned in this report: Telecom Malagasy (Telma), Airtel Madagascar (Zain, Celtel), Orange Madagascar, Madamobil, Gulfsat Madagascar (Blueline), Datacom, Data Telecom Services (DTS, Moov)
For more information or to purchase a copy of the full report please use the following link: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Madagascar-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses/?r=83
