that could be subsequently repatriated to advantage. The cash transfer systems that have been developed in Africa and elsewhere are one case in point. Voda-fone’s nection payments are increasing overall levels of profi tability. However, this will not last and low-tariff operators are seeing record new connections as newly unemployed people rush to reconnect. M-PESA system has over 6 million users in Kenya alone (half of all the company’s customers) and is being used to transfer sums equivalent to half the national GDP per capita every year. This makes European e-banking look puny by comparison. Lower usage levels and highly competitive markets mean that average revenue per customer is continu-ing to fall in many markets, with reductions of 10% or more between Q4 2008 and Q1 2009 common. Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity is also back in fashion, with well-fi nanced operators taking advantage of depressed valuations to strengthen their strategic positioning, especially in the emerging mar-kets While developing world deals are essentially expan-sive in nature, consolidation is on the rise in more mature markets. With few new subscribers to attract, network operators are looking to reduce costs. When Orange sold out of the Netherlands, few thought the deal particularly signifi cant, but profi tability has im-proved of Asia and Africa. Most notably, last year’s pro-posed Bharti-MTN deal might be back on the cards, at all three of the remaining operators. A sale which, if concluded, would be among the fi ve largest operators in the world in terms of customer num-bers. by T-Mobile of its UK arm might achieve a similar result, assuming it would be permitted. More funda-mentally, The Vodafone Group has also been busy - over Vodafone’s network-sharing deals in Aus-tralia the past nine months, it has bought Ghana Telecom and acquired another 15% stake in South Africa’s Vodacom, to give it control of the business and its four international subsidiaries. Qtel, from Qatar, is also committed to an expansion strategy and has recently taken control of Indosat in Indonesia. (with Hutchison) and Europe (with Telefonica) are designed to cut capital expenditure budgets and avoid unnecessary investments in duplicate networks. Might they ultimately signal a return to the concept of “natural monopolies”? These markets offer high growth, but also opportu-nities Source: John Tysoe, General Manager, the Mobile World research consultancy. to develop new services and revenue streams Confronting the Crisis: ICT Stimulus Plans for Economic Growth 65