Are mobile phones replacing the use of public phones in Africa?

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine whether mobiles are replacing the use of public access telephones (mobile or fixed) in Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses data from nationally representative household surveys from 17 African countries to explain public phone usage.

Findings

Mobile use is often in conjunction with public phone use for some sections of the population. At lower levels of income, increases in income are associated with a higher likelihood of payphone use due to income related barriers such as the inability to afford a mobile handset and the minimum recharge amounts for mobile minutes. At higher levels of income use of public phones tends to decline, while high‐income users do not use public phones at all. The latter is in keeping with the expectation of a gradual switch to mobile use with rising incomes.

Practical implications

The main policy recommendation that follows from the study is the need to ensure that public pay phones continue to exist as a communication safety net.

Originality/value

The empirical research explains public phone usage in terms of individual characteristics like income, age, gender representation for 17 African countries.

Citation

Stork, C. (2011), "Are mobile phones replacing the use of public phones in Africa?", info, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 75-90. https://doi.org/10.1108/14636691111131466