African governments are stifling telecoms development by failing to sell more bandwidth to mobile phone operators, a mistake that could undermine growth in the world's poorest continent.

After an explosion in the use of mobiles for phone calls, consumers in countries such as South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya are increasingly using them to access the Internet.

That requires more spectrum, the range of radio waves set aside for cellular networks. But many governments in sub Saharan Africa lack the motivation, know-how and money needed to auction more bandwidth to meet the demand, industry participants and analysts say, which bodes ill for economies.

The World Bank estimates that with every 10 percent growth in broadband penetration, African economies grow by a corresponding 1.4 percent.

"The governments do not know how to release it and do not see the importance of prioritising the release of spectrum," said Peter Lyons, a director of spectrum policy at GSMA, a UK-based mobile industry body.

Africa chokes telecoms growth by hoarding spectrum - http://reut.rs/UVzMsl



The mobile phone in Africa is now a basic right and an economical enabler. No time for dim thinking by African govts about how to boost their telco industries. Change is inevitable and the sooner they embrace it the better.