Increasing Broadband Internet Penetration
In the OIC Member Countries
108
Fixed and mobile broadband speeds and quality of broadband servicesInternational statistics of broadband service quality in Cote d’Ivoire are relatively scarce.
Available data is limited to the International Telecommunications Union, which reports a
breakdown of fixed broadband speeds for three categories (see table 50).
Table 50: Cote d’Ivoi e: Fixed broadband speeds
2014 (%) 2015 (%) Share Fixed-broadband 256 Kbit/s to less than 2 Mbit/s subscriptions 36.62 38.98
Share Fixed-broadband 2 Mbit/s to less than 10 Mbit/s subscriptions 21.13 18.86
Share Fixed-broadband equal to or above 10 Mbit/s subscriptions 42.25 41.16
Source: International Telecommunications UnionAccording to table 50, in 2015 41 % of total fixed broadband lines offered a speed equal to or
above 10 Mbps. It should be noted, however, that advertised speed does not equal real
performance. It is very common that, due to network quality issues or traffic saturation,
advertised speeds represent approximately 60% of real performance54. However, a
comparison between Cote d’Ivoire statistics with other relevant countries provides a relative
context for assessing the country’s fixed broadband speed levels (see table 51).
Table 51: Fixed Broadband Speed Levels: Cote d’Ivoir versus oth r country averages (2015)
Cote d’Ivoire
(%)
African OIC Member
Countries (%)
All OIC Member
Countries (%) Share Fixed-broadband 256 Kbit/s to
less than 2 Mbit/s subscriptions 38.98 77.54 56.69
Share Fixed-broadband 2 Mbit/s to less
than 10 Mbit/s subscriptions 18.86 15.54 32.20
Share Fixed-broadband equal to or above
10 Mbit/s subscriptions 41.16 6.93 11.11
Source: International Telecommunications UnionAccording to table 51, Cote d’Ivoire appears to have significantly higher fixed broadband speed
levels compared to the average African OIC Member Countries, as well as all OIC Member
Countries.
Pricing of fixed and mobile broadbandThe regulator has recently completed a study benchmarking broadband prices across the
region. It has concluded that Cote d’Ivoire prices are high relative to its peers. In particular, the
Ivoirian authorities emphasized the comparison with Ghanaian broadband price levels, where
broadband prices are 20% lower than in Cote d’Ivoire, suggesting Ghana as a model to
imitate 55.
The conclusion of this study appears to be consistent with a comparative assessment of pricing
trends of monthly subscriptions across country groupings for 1 GB USB port (see figure 32).
54 It is not possible to compile statistics on real performance since the “crowdsourcing” sites such as Akamai do not report
results for the Cote d’Ivoire.
55 Source: Field trip interviews.