The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has released the quarterly statistics for the telecommunications, postal and broadcasting sectors for the period 01 January 2023 to 31 March 2023 which was released on June 22th, 2023.
According to the statistics findings, the mobile telecommunications sector experienced a contraction in the number of subscribers during the first quarter of 2023.This contraction ranged between 4% and 8%, indicating a decrease in the total count of individuals or entities actively utilising mobile services. This could be due to the SIM card registration process.This is because the implementation of SIM registration carries the potential for a trade-off in terms of the subscriber’s level of utilisation of their SIM cards. Fixed line subscriptions remained stable without any significant fluctuation.The revenue generated from data, voice and SMS services experienced a slight contraction, while the sectors’ investment displays volatility, exhibiting fluctuations over time.
The findings also highlighted that, as of the end of Q1 of 2023, a total of 36 broadcasting licences were issued. The broadcasting sector experienced a 6% decline in revenue compared to Quarter 4 of 2022. Notably, advertisement revenue experienced a substantial decline of 26% when compared to Quarter 4 of 2022. Pay TV subscription exhibited an overall increase of 10% with digital terrestrial TV leading the way by recording a 34% increase.
It further added that, a further review of the Media survey of 2022 revealed that Kati FM (NBC Oshiwambo), Kaisames FM (NBC Damara/Nama and Ondangwa based radio station and Shipi FM are the most preferred radio stations in the respective order of popularity. Respondents to the survey also revealed that their primary reasons for listening to the radio is for news updates, talk shows and for the companionship provided by radio.
As for the postal, the communication regulatory body highlighted that, During the first quarter of 2023, there has been a significant 55% increase in the utilisation of post-boxes. This might suggest a strong demand for post-box services.
CRAN points out that, during the population coverage during 2023, Namibia has observed a 6% increase in population coverage for 4G services. Despite this positive trend, the Kunene region exhibited the lowest coverage at 41%, followed by the Omaheke region at 57% and the Kavango West region at 59%, indicating that these areas remain the least covered in terms of 4G services.This growth can be mainly attributed to the substantial investments in infrastructure made by operators in recent years. One notable example is the implementation of MTC’s 081-everyone project, which started in 2019.