African governments are more likely to play a pivotal role in pushing up internet access across the region in 2015, while telecom companies are expected to share infrastructure more, say experts.

A report released by global technology research company, Ovum, said this week that access to high speed broadband internet is still problematic in most African countries. The report however identified Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe as leading the way in broadband internet access on the continent.

"African governments will drive the provision of Internet access in the year ahead. There is now widespread acceptance of the importance of telecoms infrastructure in driving socio-economic development and governments across the continent will play an increasingly important role in this respect," Frost and Sullivan said on Thursday.

Joanita Roos, industry research analyst at Frost and Sullivan said "With the rise of connectivity and internet penetration, competition in the telecommunications market is no longer confined to geographic boundaries".

This was likely to give rise to closer cooperation between operators in sharing infrastructure. Previously, infrastructure was considered as a competitive advantage, with rival operators refusing to share towers for base stations and other infrastructure.

But this is all likely to change in 2015, with regulators in countries such as Zimbabwe encouraging operators to share infrastructure as a means of expanding service and coverage to other areas.

"Expect new trends such as peer-to-peer applications, on-demand services, and infrastructure sharing to establish unique models in Africa," Frost and Sullivan said.