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    Home / Data Portal / RIA / ZAF-RIA-RAMP-2010-2015-V1
RIA

RIA African Mobile Pricing 2010-2015

Africa, 2010 - 2015
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Reference ID
zaf-ria-ramp-2010-2015-v1
Producer(s)
Research ICT Africa
Collections
Research ICT Africa
Metadata
Documentation in PDF DDI/XML JSON
Created on
Aug 12, 2015
Last modified
May 28, 2020
Page views
74311
Downloads
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  • Study Description
  • Data Description
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  • Related Publications
  • Identification
  • Version
  • Scope
  • Coverage
  • Producers and sponsors
  • Data Collection
  • Access policy
  • Metadata production

Identification

Survey ID Number
zaf-ria-ramp-2010-2015-v1
Title
RIA African Mobile Pricing 2010-2015
Country
Name Country code
Africa afr
Study type
Price Survey [hh/prc]
Abstract
Research ICT Africa (RIA) is a non-profit, public interest, research entity which undertakes research on how information and communication technologies are being accessed and used in African countries. The aim is to measure the impact on lifestyles and livelihoods of people and households and to understand how informal businesses can prosper through the use of ICTs. This research can facilitate informed policy-making for improved access, use and application of ICT for social development and economic growth. RIA collects both supply-side and demand-side data. Supply-side data consists of retail prices of prepaid mobile calls and sms's, prepaid data and postpaid "bundles" for 47 African countries, for all operators.This is collected by RIA on a quarterly basis.
Kind of Data
Sample survey data
Unit of Analysis
The units of analysis in this dataset are prices

Version

Version Description
Version 1: Edited, anonymised data for public distribution
Version Date
2015

Scope

Notes
The dataset contains mobile phone supply-side data for selected African Countries. This includes data on prices for (i) mobile phone calls, SMS and MMS (ii) prepaid mobile broadband, and (iii) prepaid “top-up” data, and (iv) postpaid products

Prepaid pricing data includes:
· Prices of mobile prepaid in selected African countries (quarterly)
· Prices of mobile products from all operators in these countries

Prepaid mobile broadband data includes1GB prepaid once off price of mobile data in selected African countries (quarterly)

Coverage

Geographic Coverage
The data is at country level and covers the following 47 African countries: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

African countries not covered are Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Somalia, and South Sudan

NOTE: Country codes are from 1 to 61 (skipping15, 28-32, 35-36, 38, 40-42, 51, 58). These numbers are random codes assigned by the database software used in data collection, and the skips do not indicate missing countries.

Producers and sponsors

Primary investigators
Name
Research ICT Africa
Funding Agency/Sponsor
Name Abbreviation Role
International Development Research Centre IDRC Funding agency

Data Collection

Dates of Data Collection
Start End
2010 2015
Data Collection Mode
Other [oth]
Data Collection Notes
Prepaid Mobile Voice and SMS Pricing:

RIA use the OECD basket methodology <http://www.oecd.org/sti/broadband/price-baskets.htm> to examine the cost of making a set basket of calls over a monthly period in each country. Prices are converted to USD for ease of comparison. Mobile call baskets include a pre-determined number of calls, SMS messages each month. RIA makes use of the OECD 30 call basket which is weighted at a total of 50 calling minutes per month and 100 SMSs per month. Unlike the OECD, which only examines prices of dominant operators in each market, RIA collects data for all operators in the market.

Prepaid Mobile Broadband Data Pricing:

RIA collects prices of 1GB of prepaid data by country on a quarterly basis. Where there is no 1GB product, the cheapest combination of products worth 1GB is used. The prepaid data offer should be valid for at least 30 days. Modem prices are excluded. The benchmarking of prepaid mobile broadband data is combined with Ookla download and upload speed data by operator <http://www.speedtest.net/about.php> to produce a Mobile Broadband Value for Money Index.

Prepaid Mobile Bundle Pricing:

Information on blended bundles that include data and voice, or data and SMS, or data, voice and SMS, are collected quarterly by country. RIA adds the value of bundled minutes, SMS, and data and divides by the monthly payment to arrive at a prepaid “bundle” value for each country. These are used to create a Prepaid Bundle Value Index (BVI).
The bundle must have data and either voice and/or SMS. The cost in local currency (tax inclusive) and in USD is captured for each product. The value of bundled minutes is derived by multiplying the number of minutes with a fixed USD value. One minute is valued at 10 US cents, 1 SMS at 1 US cent, and 1 MB data at 10 US cents. A “bundled” product that costs USD3.82 with 180 minutes, 50 SMSs and 5MB will therefore have the following (BVI) score:

BVI=(180*0.1+50*0.01+5*0.1)/3.82=4.97

Unlimited call, SMS or data offers were made comparable to capped packages by applying the following rules:
· Unlimited minutes = 240 minutes per day (7200 minutes per month)
· Uncapped SMS = 240 SMSs a day (7200 per month)
· Uncapped data = the limit stipulated in the “”fair terms of use policy, or 30 GB, whichever is smaller

Post-paid Mobile Products Pricing:

Post-paid prices are collected quarterly for African countries which display a significant proportion of post-paid versus prepaid market share. The data captured includes
· Price of each post-paid package on the market
· The number of voice minutes, SMSs, and data (MB) per month

This information is used to create a Postpaid Value Index (PVI)

The PVI measures the value a customer gets for the monthly subscription price in terms of bundled minutes, SMSs and data. The value of bundled minutes is derived by multiplying the number of minutes with a fixed USD value. One minute is valued at 10 US cents, 1 SMS at 1 US cent, and 1 MB data at 10 US cents. Out of bundle rates and handsets inclusive packages are not accounted for in index construction. Unlimited calls, SMSs or data offers were made comparable to capped packages by applying the same rules used to create the Prepaid Bundle Value Index:

· Unlimited minutes = 240 minutes per day (7200 minutes per month)
· Uncapped SMS = 240 SMSs (7200 per month)
· Uncapped data = the limit stipulated in the “”fair terms of use policy, or 30 GB, whichever is smaller

Access policy

Contacts
Name Email URL
DataFirst Support support@data1st.org support.data1st.org
Access conditions
Public use files, available to all
Citation requirements
Research ICT Africa. RIA African Mobile Pricing [dataset]. Version 1. Cape Town: RIA [producer], 2015. Cape Town: DataFirst [distributor], 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25828/ezj3-kx42
Access authority
Name Affiliation Email URL
DataFirst University of Cape Town support@data1st.org support.data1st.org

Metadata production

Producers
Name Affiliation Role
DataFirst University of Cape Town Metadata producer
Date of Metadata Production
2020-05-23
DDI Document version
Version 4
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