Podcast: What’s the story with mobile data in Africa?

Sub-Saharan Africa is on track for mobile data traffic to skyrocket in the next five years, according to Ericsson's June 2020 Mobility Report. Meanwhile, fixed-broadband subscribers in South Africa have been declining.

What does this mean for the industry and region at large, and what other trends are at play?

That's the subject on the latest episode of "What's the Story?" – a new podcast from Light Reading featuring Paula Gilbert, editor of Connecting Africa, who tells us what's going on with mobile data and broadband in Africa, why it matters and what to expect next.

"Africa is a mobile-first continent, so the majority of Internet access still happens on mobile devices ... there's still a big infrastructure gap in a lot of places," says Gilbert.

"Operators really see data as a good way to make money because voice revenues keep declining in Africa. So they want to see more people buying smartphones and using more gigabytes per month."

You can find more episodes of "What's the Story?" in the Light Reading Podcast feed on Apple Podcasts, Google, SoundCloud and Spotify.

— Nicole Ferraro, contributing editor, Light Reading