Operators can expect to see the next billion mobile connections to come from rural areas in emerging markets, according to analyst Ovum. The research house said although users in such areas typically do not have access to basic infrastructure or utilities, they are aware of the transformative potential of mobile phones and are eager to invest in a convenient device.

Despite falling prices, consumers living in emerging markets are still paying far more for broadband than their mature market counterparts, putting it completely out of reach for the majority of them, according to research firm Ovum.

Mobile operators’ dominant status in the emerging markets mobile content space is set to change due to strong competition from new platforms such as app stores. According to research undertaken by Ovum, operators need to make urgent adjustments to their content strategies if they are to adapt to rapid shifts in the market.

The first in our series of tips for potential investors in the African telecoms market. Here Informa Telecoms & Media reveals that operators that employ a lean, efficient business model will be best-placed to run a profitable operation on low tariffs.

Informa Telecoms & Media hosted the inaugural Mobile Healthcare Industry Summit in London in early December. It was a First World setting with predominantly First World protagonists and participants and a lot of First World technology on show. But it is the Third World – or emerging markets, to use a more current term – that might actually end up playing the leading role in mobile healthcare.

At the start of 2006 it was clear that the African market was making an appearance on the radars of international companies. The following three years have been characterised by increased investment into the African continent, and the telecommunications industry can be seen as the perfect showcase for this activity.

The prospect of consolidation among African and Middle Eastern operators has provided much fuel for the industry rumour mill in 2009, but the apparent collapse of talks involving Zain Africa as well as those between Bharti and MTN has not diminished the appetite for expansion.