Mobile telecom services in the WAEMU: complements or substitutes?

The African telephony sector has been the fastest growing sector since the advent of electronic communications in the world. However, an analysis of subscriptions to electronic communications services (fixed, mobile and Internet) in the WAEMU region shows that the demand for services is disparate. To assess competition between electronic communications services, the study set out to establish the interrelationships between services in the WAEMU countries through the estimation of a panel data model considering the period from 2000 to 2012. It was found that there is a complementary relationship between fixed and mobile phone ownership. The same finding was made between the Internet service and telephony. Consequently, the proper implementation of electronic communication development policies in the member countries of the union appears to be a powerful tool for the continued dissemination of ICTs and the expansion of the information society in WAEMU.