Average Postpaid pricing in Africa is currently $43 USD per month

Tariff Consultancy Ltd (TCL) has today launched a new Tariff Tracker subscription service aimed at the fast growing African Mobile segment.

Called TCL Mobile Africa Tariff Tracker, the new subscription service surveys pricing from a total of 72 MNOs in 37 countries across Africa and includes 524 price plans in total – of which 364 are Post Paid contracts and 160 are Pre Paid services.

The TCL Mobile Africa Tariff Tracker 2013 uses the database and analysis perfected by TCL in the TCL Mobile Broadband and Voice & 3G Smartphone Tariff Tracker subscription services which also includes selected pricing from African MNOs.

The new subscription service provides a more detailed in depth survey of the African mobile market and tracks in detail the following four main tariff types –

i) Post Paid and Pre Paid domestic voice, SMS, Mobile Data, 3G & Smartphone services
ii) International calling rates from the African MNO to 7 international destinations
iii) Roaming pricing to 7 international destinations
iv) Mobile Broadband tariffs for both Post Paid and Pre Paid services

Using the unique TCL pricing database, the Mobile Africa Tariff Tracker 2013 survey has identified 8 key Post Paid and Pre Paid price trends across the African mobile market as follows:

1. Average Post Paid pricing in Africa is currently $43.12 USD per month – But within this average there are a wide spread of price plans available which range from below $1 USD per month (as in Liberia, Togo & Tanzania) to above $100 USD per month (as in South Africa)
2. Mobile Broadband & Mobile Data in some countries are now substitutes for fixed line Broadband in Africa – African Mobile Broadband and Mobile Data user allowances being as high as 20 GB per month, with the high mobile data usage allowances charged at a premium.
3. Inclusive bundles of minutes are popular in Africa – Bundled minutes are offered by over 90 per cent of Post Paid MNO packages surveyed in Africa.
4. Inclusive bundles of SMS are included in almost half of African Post Paid services – Almost 45 per cent of Post Paid plans surveyed by TCL now include SMS bundles which range from as low as 8 up to 1000 SMS per month.
5. Almost 25 per cent of African Post Paid plans now offer a Mobile Data bundle – With Mobile Data bundle allowances ranging from 5 MB up to 20 GB per month , a trend which is accelerating with the introduction of more high speed HSPA networks.
6. The most common Mobile Data Post Paid plan is now a 500 MB user allowance per month – But some 24 per cent of African Mobile Data Post Paid plans have a 1 GB or over Mobile Data allowance per month.
7. Pre Paid call rates in Africa vary widely – Pre Paid domestic call rates in Africa range from $0.01 USD up to $0.42 USD per minute. Rates vary according to the recharge amount and the time of day called.
8. Pre Paid SMS rates in Africa also vary widely – Pre Paid domestic SMS rates also vary in Africa and range up to $0.12 USD per SMS, with the average SMS rate across Africa being $0.057 USD per SMS

African MNOs are introducing a variety of user incentives to differentiate their services. These include the bundling of free or partially subsidised devices, discounts according to call duration, discounts for “on-net” calls, free “on-net” calls and discounts for specific “on-net” calls to pre-registered numbers.

The TCL Mobile Africa Tracker 2013 provides a detailed survey of the key pricing metrics based on current available MNO services in Africa. The survey metrics used in the report are:

• Per Minute call rates – including for “on-net” or “off-net” calls if applicable
• Per Minute call rates including for “peak” or “off-peak” calls if applicable
• SMS rates – including for “on-net” or “off-net” SMS if applicable
• International roaming rates – from 7 key international destinations back to Africa (USA, South Africa, UK, Singapore, Brazil, Kuwait & Japan).
• International call rates – from to 7 key international destinations
• Mobile Broadband tariffs – including African Post Paid & Pre Paid pricing for use with a USB flash modem (dongle) device

In short, the TCL Mobile Africa Tariff Tracker offers a unique insight into the pricing strategies of more than 70 MNOs in one of the most dynamic markets in the world based on rigorous analysis from TCL analysts.