Africa Internet Usage, Facebook and Population Statistics. World Databank: African Internet Users. Seven ways mobile phones have changed lives in Africa. Mobile phone technology has grown significantly over the past decadeNigeria has close to 100M mobile phone lines, making it Africa's largest telecoms marketWe look at ways that mobile phones have changed lives in Africa Mobile phones have become an essential part of our everyday life.
Through a special month-long series, "Our Mobile Society," we examine how phones and tablets are changing the way we live. Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- A little over a decade ago there were about 100,000 phone lines in Nigeria, mostly landlines run by the state-owned telecoms behemoth, NITEL. Today NITEL is dead, and Nigeria has close to 100 million mobile phone lines, making it Africa's largest telecoms market, according to statistics by the Nigerian Communications Commission. Across the rest of the continent the trends are similar: between 2000 and 2010, Kenyan mobile phone firm Safaricom saw its subscriber base increase in excess of 500-fold. Open Mic: Mobile devices in Kenya Gallery created by Stina Backer.
Underwater cables bring faster internet to West Africa. Main One Cable lands in Lagos, Nigeria -- the fiber-optic cable has a capacity of 1.92 terabits a second.
Starting from Seixal in Portugal, the cable runs to Accra in Ghana and Lagos in Nigeria. It also has branching units in Morocco, Canary Islands, Senegal, and Ivory Coast. Nigerian Funke Opeke is the chief executive of Main One Cable. Opeke says the system is the first subsea cable linking West Africa and Europe to bring broadband to the region. The Main One Cable landing station in Lagos, Nigeria.
Former U.S. ambassador Robin Sanders (left) visits the Main One Cable landing station in Lagos. The governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi (middle), tours the Lagos landing station. (CNN) -- Stretching some 7,000 kilometers along the West African coastline, a submarine fiber-optic cable emerges off the coast of Nigeria to help bridge the digital divide in the continent. Dubbed Main One Cable, the system links West Africa with Europe, bringing ultra-fast broadband in the region.
Warning over African internet cable. Campaigners fear that a new fibre optic cable which could revolutionise internet use in East Africa could become a missed opportunity.
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) says a similar cable linking West and Southern Africa has not provided the benefits of cheaper, faster internet access because it is controlled by state-owned monopolies - or their privatised successors - which still enjoy near monopolies. The APC say there will be a similar lack of competition in East Africa, meaning prices will remain high and so high-speed access like broadband will still be beyond the reach of most people.
Telecoms analyst Eddie Murphy told the BBC News website that the cable will definitely make a "significant difference" to download speeds because at present, there is nothing similar in East Africa. He does agree, however, that prices are likely to stay high unless other companies are allowed access to the East African Submarine Cable System (Eassy). 'Naive' Competition Your comments: