Sub-Saharan Africa can expect to see consolidation in its telecoms sector as operators fight for the lower end of the market to help sustain robust growth, an Ericsson executive said on Thursday.

Mobile operators are scrambling to capture an estimated 500 million potential African customers who do not use cellphones, as the poorest continent embraces technology that encourages entrepreneurship and circumvents patchy fixed-line networks.

About 235 million people already use cellphones in sub-Saharan Africa, where many live on less than $2 (about R20) a day. Making money at the bottom end of the market is tough for smaller operators and Kaul said he expected consolidation.

"What we are seeing now is mergers and acquisitions (M&As)... And our prediction is that in the next five years there will be seven or eight big operators operating on the continent," Sanjay Kaul, Ericsson's vice-president, multi-media solutions in sub-Saharan Africa, told Reuters.

Swedish telecoms company Ericsson supplies telecommunication equipment and services to 65 mobile and 20 fixed-line operators on the continent, including MTN, the biggest mobile operator in sub-Saharan Africa.

MTN said it had boosted subscribers by nine percent to 80,7 million by the end of September, compared to 74 million at the end of June, with key market Nigeria up to 20,2 million subscribers.

Telecoms companies from Europe, the Middle East and Asia have been seeking a foothold in Africa as they try to offset slower growth in more mature markets.

Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile phone group by revenue, this month agreed to take control of South Africa's Vodacom by buying a further 15 percent stake for R22,5-billion from fixed-line group Telkom.

"The growth prospects in telecoms services in the continent are sustainable for at least for the next five to seven years," Kaul said. - Reuters