A telecom analyst at the Computer Society of Zambia Amos Kalunga has told ITWeb Africa that the in the next few years, the local mobile phone market is likely to be saturated.

According to Kalunga the growth of Zambia's mobile phone market was expected as it is a result of the initiatives taken by the government through ZICTA (The Zambian Information and Communication Technology Authority) to ensure that even remote rural areas are connected to the networks.

"Don't forget that the government has been putting up telecom towers in rural areas in order for every person to be connected to mobile connection. We are slowly seeing the benefits of the initiative with people connected to mobile phone communication now close to 11 million," Kalunga said.

He added that operators have also been selling affordable handsets, hence the growth of the number of mobile phone subscribers.

Increased numbers

In 2015 Zambia's mobile phone market reached 10.9 million as a result of increased investment by mobile phone service providers, according to ZICTA.

Director for market competition and licences at the regulator Mulenga Chisanga confirmed the growth and increased level of investment by service providers.

Of the three mobile phone operators in Zambia, MTN represents the largest and has 50% of the market share.

Zambia's population is slightly above 15 million people.

Chisanga is quoted by the Zambia Daily Mail newspaper as having said also that the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) coverage, which is currently over 80% of the country's surface area, is expected to reach 100% in the next few years.

The ZICTA director said the regulatory programme to extend GSM infrastructure to the under-served and unserved has also contributed to the rise of investments in the country.

The newspaper quotes Chisanga as saying, "The effectiveness of ICT policy in increasing access to ICTs in Zambia has been mixed. There has been significant market improvement in access to mobile phone services."