Constantly growing sector

Mobile phone services in Madagascar have reached new milestones. According to data released Monday by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ARTEC), 23,539,295 SIM cards were in service in Madagascar by the end of 2023.

This represents a substantial increase from 2022 when active SIM cards stood at 19,707,972. Since 2018, when there were 9,595,884 active SIM cards, the growth has been consistent, with an overall rise of about 50 % over the past five years.

In stark contrast, fixed-line telephony has stagnated, reaching its lowest point since 2006. By the end of 2023, only 3,413 fixed lines were operational in Madagascar. This decline began around 2016, with a sharp drop between 2016 and 2017, as the number of lines plummeted from 148,595 to 68,792 following a clean-up of inactive lines by the national operator. Despite minor recoveries in 2019 and 2022, the downward trend has persisted.

As a result, while calls to fixed networks have decreased, mobile phone usage has surged. In 2023, over 10 billion minutes of mobile calls were made, continuing a trend of near-constant growth in call volume since 2013.