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MTN subscriber growth slows

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 24 Apr 2014
MTN SA disconnected 973 064 subscribers who had been active, but not generating revenue.
MTN SA disconnected 973 064 subscribers who had been active, but not generating revenue.

MTN, Africa's largest cellular operator, has boosted its base to 210.1 million users, across 22 countries in Africa and the Middle East, in the three months to March, but notes this growth is only a 1.1% gain quarter-on-quarter.

Locally, the company saw a drop off of 824 768 users, taking its base down to 24.9 million. This, it says, was mostly due to the disconnection of 973 064 subscribers who had been active, but not generating revenue, it says.

MTN SA has been focusing on "regaining relevance in the pre-paid segment and maintaining its post-paid market share". Contract subscribers gained 3.7%, to 5.2 million, supported by continued growth in telemetry SIMs, segmented marketing campaigns, as well as "attractive" converged offers.

Although the pre-paid segment remained "challenging", the launch of a new pre-paid voice promotion of 79c per minute for both on-net and off-net calls in the second quarter and other deals are expected to deliver improved subscriber performance, it says.

MTN Nigeria grew its subscriber base marginally to 57.2 million and lost some market share post a one-month ban on the sale of SIMs, which was imposed by the Nigerian Communications Commission for three of the four operators in that country. After the lifting of the ban, the group has seen strong subscriber growth, it notes.

In Iran, the group's base gained a percent, to 41.8 million, as gross connections were impacted by the weaker economy, a highly-penetrated market and increased promotional activities from its competitors. "Innovative promotional offers have subsequently been implemented to address subscriber acquisition and retention," it says.

MTN Ghana also only grew subscribers a percent, to 13.1 million, which the group says was satisfactory in a highly-penetrated market that is battling currency and inflationary pressures, and increased competition.

Other operations - such as MTN Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Uganda - fared better, growing their bases by more than 6% during the quarter. However, conflict-ridden countries such as Syria and Sudan saw subscriber losses, the group notes.

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