Africa’s greatest success story to date in telecommunications is the remarkable spread of mobile telephony. Africa’s mobile market has been the fastest-growing of any region over the last five years and has grown twice as fast as the global market. It has been a significant contributor to expanding access opportunities to a vast majority of its population. Mobile phones account for close to 90% of all telephone subscribers in Africa, with over 260 million mobile cellular subscribers in 2007.

This success coupled with the technological advances of broadband and demand for ever-increasing bandwidth significantly justifies migrating to an all wireless infrastructure. New technologies such as WiMAX enables delivery of last mile wireless broadband as an alternative to cable and DSL. WiMAX is gaining momentum across the continent and is likely to get an additional boost from its adoption as a third-generation technology in October 2007. Wireless technology holds particular potential for remote and hard to reach areas that are hindered by reliable sources of electricity. As such, the uptake of wireless involves significant innovation in adapting to the African reality. Contemporary technologies contemplate power sources such as wind and solar. In Africa the wireless portion of the network extends much further than the last mile, rendering the region as one part of the world where wireless technology is the primary delivery system for internet services.