Mobile broadband coverage across Africa has jumped from 59% of the population in 2015 to 92% in 2025, and 4G coverage has gone from 7% to 83% over that same period. On paper, those numbers tell a story of remarkable progress. In practice, only 28% of Africans were actually using mobile internet on their own devices in 2025, compared with 66% in the rest of the world. About 64% of the continent's population lived within reach of a mobile broadband signal but never connected to it.
A new GSMA report points to spectrum pricing as one of the structural reasons why. Spectrum refers to the radio frequencies that carry mobile calls and data, and African operators are paying a disproportionate amount for access to less of it. Spectrum costs consume 0.82% of mobile operators' revenue per 100 MHz in Africa, versus 0.66% in the rest of the world. At the same time, African operators hold an average of around 570 MHz of spectrum below 7 GHz, which is 24% less than the global peer average of roughly 750 MHz.
The issue goes beyond pricing. Only nine African countries routinely grant spectrum licences lasting 20 years or more. In Europe, North America and developed Asian markets, licences of 20 years or indefinite duration are the standard. Shorter licence windows give operators less certainty and less incentive to commit capital to network infrastructure upgrades.
Reducing spectrum fees could free up money for expansion, but the GSMA report is clear that lower fees alone will not close the gap between coverage and actual use. Device affordability, data prices and digital literacy all shape whether people who live near a signal ever choose to get online. 5G has already reached 15% of Africa's population as of the end of 2025, which means the infrastructure ambitions are real. Whether regulators can pair more affordable spectrum access with concrete connectivity targets is the question that will define the next decade.
Originally published by TechCabal.