The volume of call traffic on mobile networks in Cameroon is decreasing, according to a 2017 Annual Observatory Report released by the country's Telecommunications Regulatory Board (TRB).

Voice call traffic in 2017 was measured at 15.26 billion minutes of call, a drop of 3.89% year-on-year. A loss of 617,634,522 million minutes of call was registered compared to 2016.

The report suggests that the decrease could be linked to broadband internet penetration in the country. It is understood that the cheaper cost of mobile internet with unlimited offers and bundles could have been the reason many consumers opted for OTT (Over the Top) using multiple applications.

On the contrary, the volume of SMS' sent on GSM continued to rise in 2017. The increase rate stood at 83.30%, representing 23.18 billion SMS' sent. This exceeds an average of 20 billion SMS' during the previous four years.

The increase is attributed to a proliferation of SMS offers and bundles by operators who want to leverage growing internet penetration. Offers include call bundle + SMS bonus, or data bundle + SMS bonus or call bundle + data bundle + SMS bonus.

According to the report, intra-network messaging stood at 99.46% while the volume of inter-network SMS traffic stood at just 0.46%. Text messaging abroad was almost inexistent, recording just 0.08%.

In 2017, the declared revenue generated by licensed mobile network service providers reached FCFA 580.54 billion, without taxes, growing by 2.68% compared to 2016.

Licensed operators include Cameroon Telecommunications (Camtel), MTN Cameroon, Orange Cameroon and Viettel (Nexttel).