The graph illustrates the proportion of African telephone subscribers from 1994 to 2004.
Overall, there was an increase in the share of citizens in Africa subscribing to two types of telephone, with the most dramatic rise being seen in the figures for mobile phones. Similarly, the figures for fixed line phones gradually rose over the period examined.
In 1994, the percentage of inhabitants in Africa subscribing to fixed line phones started at 1.7, while the figure for mobile phones just started at 0.06. In the first 4 years of the period examined, both figures saw similar change, remaining relatively stable.
About 0.07 percent of African used mobile phones in 1997, with a significant growth to 1.7 percent 3 years later. From 2001 onwards, mobile phones overtook fixed line phones as the most commonly-used type of telephone, and reached a peak of 8.8 in the last year of the period examined. While the figures for the share of fixed line phones rose slightly to 3.1.