MTN SA subscribers, ARPU decline
MTN lost 824,768 subscribers over the last three months, while the company’s average revenue per user (ARPU) declined by 11%. This is according to the company’s quarterly update for the period ended 31 March, 2014.
MTN Group, which has operations in 22 countries across Africa and the Middle East, grew its subscriber base by 1.1% to 210.1 million.
Data revenue bolstered the group’s performance, increasing 43.3% year-on-year.
“MTN delivered a satisfactory performance during the first quarter of 2014, underpinned by strong data growth, competitive offerings and improved network quality and coverage,” said MTN Group president and CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa.
“Data and Mobile Money remain key areas of focus for the Group as traditional voice revenue remains under pressure.”
MTN South Africa
MTN South Africa’s overall subscriber numbers reduced by 824,768, bringing total subscribers to 24.9 million at the end of the quarter.
“This was largely due to the disconnection of 973,064 subscribers who had been showing activity but not generating revenue as per our 90 day RGS requirement,” MTN said.
MTN SA’s post-paid segment delivered a better performance, growing subscribers by 3.7% to 5.2 million.
“This was supported by continued growth in telemetry SIMs, segmented marketing campaigns as well as attractive converged offers,” MTN said.
“While the pre-paid segment remained challenging, the introduction of MTN Sky and the launch of a new pre-paid voice promotion of 79 cents per minute for both on-net and off-net calls in the second quarter, are expected to deliver improved subscriber performance going forward.”
Data continued to bolster revenue growth for MTN SA, increasing by 13.3% YoY and now contributes 22.8% of the operation’s revenue.
Data subscribers increased to 14.5 million, largely due to competitive data packages and the launch of the low-cost Steppa smartphone.
A concern to MTN should be the decline in blended ARPU – decreasing by 11.3% to R100.47 quarter to quarter.
MTN South Africa said it remains committed to seeking a permanent resolution to the recent MTR glide path and asymmetry regulations announced by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, which came into effect on 1 April for a period of six months.
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