iversities. There are plans to build public polytechnic institutes where students will receive technical degrees. As Nigerian mobile operators upgrade their networks, mobile applications and Internet offerings will require a population with adequate income levels to use these services. Training and education as well as infrastructure upgrades are important steps in mak- ing this possible. In 2010, the government announced plans to privatize the production and distribu- tion of electricity in an attempt to improve infrastructure. In addition, to improve Inter- net access from mobile devices, mobile provider Etisalat Nigeria is using a loan from a consortium of eight Nigerian banks to extend its mobile network nationally. In 2011, another mobile provider, MTN Nigeria, announced a plan to invest $1 billion USD on improvements in fiber-optic capacity and acquisition of base stations to improve cover- age of its mobile service. While Nigeria has a robust mobile industry, it is still growing. According to the Nigerian Communications Commission, there were more than 129 million cell phone subscriptions as of the end of February 2012. Table 8-6 lists the largest mobile provid- ers by market share. Despite competition, rates for mobile services are high compared to those in countries such as Kenya, Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia. In addi- tion, there were only 2.3 million lines of fixed-wired and wireless Internet access sub- scribers in the entire country as of February 2012. Of these services, 91.9 percent were based on GSM, 6.9 percent on CDMA, and only 1.19 percent on WiMAX, satellite, fixed-wireline Internet access. Sub-Saharan Africa Table 8-6 Mobile Providers in Nigeria Carrier Brand Name Ownership Notes MTN Nigeria MTN Group, 76%; Largest mobile com- Communications private investors, pany in Nigeria. Provides coverage to 86% of the population. The largest subsidiary of South Africa's MTN Group. Globacom Glo Mobile Private company Owned by a local Nige- Mike Adenuga rian company, which is Group expanding into