MTN subscriber base nears 35m
This was up a significant 37% for the quarter (following the Investcom acquisition) from 25 371 000 subscribers reported for the group at June 30 2006.
Excluding the impact of subscriber additions related to the acquisition of Investcom, subscribers grew 8% for the quarter. Investcom operations reported standalone growth of 20% compared with subscribers reported for the quarter ended June 30 2006.
"The group’s subscriber base at September 30 2006 is reported using the MTN Group’s definition for Investcom operations (i.e. subscribers who have made or received a revenue generating call in the last 90 days)," MTN said.
The South African region increased its subscriber base by 7% for the quarter. Growth in the region was driven principally by MTN Group’s South African operations, which showed a healthy improvement in net connections for the quarter. Subscribers increased by 7% for the 3 months to 11 161 000.
‘Afghanistan exceeded expectations’
"In the West and Central Africa region much of the growth for the quarter is still due to MTN Nigeria and to a lesser extent Ghana.
"Nigeria achieved subscriber growth of 8% in the quarter, and has reached a base of 10 375 000 subscribers while Ghana increased its base by a healthy 21% to 2 436 000 subscribers over the same period.
"Middle East and North East Africa recorded subscriber growth of 17% for the quarter mainly due to continued strong growth in Syria (20%) and Uganda (14%). Growth in the Sudan was dampened by the relatively slow network rollout.
"Afghanistan, a start up, exceeded expectations and achieved net additions of 99 000. Investcom subscribers accounted for 7 384,000 or 21% of the group total subscriber base at September 30 2006, an increase of 1 240 000, or 20% based on the Investcom numbers reported for the quarter ended June 30 2006," MTN said on Wednesday.
It said that South Africa and Nigeria respectively accounted for 32% and 30% of the total subscriber base of the Group at the end of September 2006.
‘Early indications are encouraging’
MTN South Africa’s Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) increased to R162 during the quarter, driven by the prepaid ARPU increasing to R94 on strong usage growth.
"It is encouraging that the prepaid ARPU in South Africa is being maintained. The ARPUs of most of the Group’s international operations have also remained strong during the quarter with no significant dilution experienced.
"Afganistan reported ARPU for the first time of $16 per subscriber," MTN said.
MTN’s Nigerian operations launched a new and exciting product offering to strategically reposition itself within an increasingly competitive market.
This included the launch of the Xtra product plan with lower tariffs, skewed to on net traffic, as well as increased product offerings such as MTN Caller Tunez and MTNLoaded. This was implemented on September 22 2006, the same date the interconnect determination became effective.
"The impact of these various changes will only be felt in future reporting periods. Early indications since the launch of the new products are encouraging, with increases in billable minutes, reactivation of dormant subscribers and an improvement in brand recognition."
Successfully begun realising synergy benefits
MTN added that pursuant to the acquisition of Investcom, the combined group had successfully begun realising synergy benefits.
"Savings in operational expenditure are estimated at $80-$100m while savings in capital expenditure are anticipated to total at least $100m for the 2007 year. Limited savings have already been realized in 2006 and it is anticipated that this will ramp up in 2007.
"Savings in capital and operational expenditure beyond 2007 together with softer synergy benefits through the implementation of Group-wide best-practices, specifically in product development and implementation, network roll-out and in operational and support functions make up the balance of the estimated total of $300m previously referred to," MTN said.
It added that over 65 000 subscribers had been registered to date on MTN Irancell.
"Network coverage currently includes Tehran, Mashhad and Tabriz with coverage in Sari and Karaj imminent. It is still expected that MTN Irancell will have 1 million subscribers by the end of December 2006," it said.
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