The line graph illustrates the percentage of people in Africa who used to mobile and fixed line phones between 1994 and 2004
Overall, it is clear that mobile phone subscriptions increased dramatically over the period, while the use of fixed-line phones remained relatively stable with only slight growth. By the end of the period, mobile phones had become far more popular than landline telephones.
In 1994, the proportion of people using fixed-line phones stood at around 1.7%, whereas mobile phone subscriptions were almost negligible, at approximately 0.06%. Over the following years, landline usage rose gradually and reached about 2% by 1998. During the same period, mobile phone use increased slowly but remained well below 1%.
From 1999 onwards, mobile phone subscriptions grew rapidly. The figure climbed to around 2% in 2001 and then rose sharply to approximately 5% in 2002, before peaking at about 8.8% in 2004. In contrast, the percentage of fixed-line phone users increased only slightly, finishing the period at roughly 3.1%.