SOUTH AFRICA: MOBILE DATA SPENDING ON THE RISE; VOICE DECLINES

By World Wide Worx published on July 25, 2012.

Proportion of the average user’s cellphone spend on data has increased by half in the past 18 months – from 8% of budget at the end of 2010 to 12% in mid-2012. Spending on voice has dropped from 77% to 73% in the same period – precisely matching the difference in data spend. Meanwhile, SMS spend remains steady at 12%, and full music tracks feature for the first time – taking up 1% of the average spend on a cellphone.


The biggest increases in specific uses of data on the phone were seen in instant messaging services, with more than a fivefold increase in the proportion of BBM users in the past 18 months – from 3% to 17% of adult cellphone users living in cities and towns – and WhatsApp emerging from nowhere to claim a quarter of adult cellphone users.

Browsing on the phone also increased substantially, from 33% to 41% of users, app downloads rose from 13% of users to 24%, while Facebook use rose by more than half, from 22% to 38%.