As soccer fever grips the continent, South African cellular provider MTN has entered into a mobile content provision agreement with the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament organisers, in Ghana.
According to MTN head of strategy and innovation Ashraff Paruk, the content the mobile operator will provide is exclusive to the Afcon tournament and available to all MTN subscribers.
Under the agreement, MTN is offering SMS notifications, video, and pictures of tournament matches to users, as the competition unfolds.
"With Internet penetration across Africa at only 2%, and mobile penetration in excess of 30%, this is undoubtedly the most logical way of providing access to information to soccer fans across the continent," says Paruk.
The MTN Group operates in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, SA, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia.
Paruk says the content agreement with the Afcon organisers is a first of its kind for MTN, but could not be reached at the time of publication to clarify whether MTN is the exclusive Afcon mobile content partner.
Clarity on the price of the content could also not be obtained at time of publication.
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