NAIROBI — Qualcomm, a leading developer of advanced wireless technologies, products and services, has stepped up its presence in Sub-Saharan Africa with the establishment of a new regional business centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Company’s new presence, located in Purshottam Place, Chiromo Road, Westlands, Nairobi, will serve as the hub for Qualcomm’s business operations in the East and Central Africa region and will support a variety of Qualcomm partners that are driving the region’s fast growing mobile market, including operators, device manufacturers, network operators, retailers, distributors and mobile application developers.
Mr Billy Owino, Qualcomm’s Director of Business Development in East Africa, said: “East Africa is continuing its rapid transition to 3G mobile broadband and consumers are reaping the benefits of enhanced services, competition and choice. In Kenya and across the region, businesses and consumers are turning to their mobiles for a wider range of activities, such as downloading music & video, social networking, finance and more.”
Africa is the fastest-growing mobile market in the world, and is the second largest after Asia. The number of subscribers on the Continent has grown almost 20% each year for the past five years.[1] In Kenya, industry analyst firm Pyramid Research projects that revenue from mobile data services will account for almost half of all telecommunications revenue by 2016 as more Kenyans embrace mobile money and mobile Internet.
The firm believes that mobile data revenue will increase from an estimated US$ 457 million in 2011 to US$ 751 million in 2016 – almost a 44 percent share of total telecom revenue.[2] Qualcomm is leading the new era of mobile computing and voice connectivity enabled by high-speed mobile broadband, creating solutions that make wireless services more personal, affordable and accessible to people everywhere.
Through its global office network, which spans approximately 175 locations in 75 countries, Qualcomm’s ideas and inventions are transforming the way people communicate and interact with the world around them. The company’s Nairobi office reflects Qualcomm’s long-term commitment to the Sub-Saharan Africa region, and to serving the diverse needs of its regional partners.
