The evolution of the Internet market in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2022 has been remarkable. According to the annual report of the Internet Service Supply Market Observatory of the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Congo (ARPTC), the sector recorded an estimated income of more than 943.8 million US dollars. , with an annual growth rate of 57%.
This figure reflects the growing importance of Internet access in the country, both for mobile and fixed connections. There are currently approximately 25.9 million subscriptions for mobile Internet and nearly 33,000 subscriptions for fixed Internet. Mobile Internet penetration stands at 27%, while fixed Internet penetration is lower at just 0.03%.
However, despite this significant growth, it is important to note that fixed Internet revenue collection remains low, reaching only 40% of identified Internet service providers. This shows that there are still challenges to improve the profitability of this market segment.
Furthermore, the average revenue per subscriber (ARPU) differs between mobile Internet and fixed Internet. For mobile Internet, the ARPU is estimated at $2.05 per subscriber per month, while for fixed Internet, where the activities are more mass market oriented, the ARPU amounts to $3.566 per subscriber per month.
Regarding network coverage, we observe a significant advance in mobile broadband networks, with coverage of 40% of the population for the 4G network and 50% for the 3G network. On the other hand, the coverage of fixed wired broadband optical fiber networks is still limited, with a deployment of national backbone infrastructure covering around 16% of the territory.
To support the development of the Internet in the DRC, new players have emerged, notably Internet exchange points (IXPs) such as KINIX, GOMIX and LUBIX, present in the main cities of the country. They attract several international and national content providers, as well as value-added service providers.
In summary, the Internet market in the DRC continues to grow at a sustained pace, mainly driven by mobile Internet. However, further efforts are needed to improve fixed Internet revenue collection and expand the coverage of fixed fiber optic networks. The presence of new players and the growth of Internet exchange points are encouraging elements for the future of the Internet in the DRC.