Luxembourg's Millicom is suddenly popular with as many as 10 operators approaching the carrier with takeover offers. That's because Millicom holds the key to the next wave of customer growth: emerging markets. It provides services in Africa, Asia and Latin America. One of its biggest operations is in Pakistan. We've already seen Vodafone stepping up its efforts in developing regions as the majority of new customers are expected to come from these countries.
According to a new report from Strategy Analytics, global growth of wireless subscriptions will slow to 20 percent in 2006 from 23 percent last year, with the biggest gains in emerging markets. While countries such as Russia, India and Indonesia were among those with the fastest-growing rate of subscriptions in 2005 at 40 percent to 50 percent, African countries such as Nigeria and Algeria could lead the growth in 2006, says the firm.
For more about Millicom's offers and the state of the market:
- read this article in The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)
- check out this press release from Strategy Analytics