MTN South Africa performed well over the last financial year, increasing their total subscriber base by 17% from 31 December 2006 to 14.8 million at 31 December 2007. Their postpaid subscriber base grew by 9% to 2.5 million subscribers, and the prepaid base increased by 19% to 12.3 million over the twelve-month period. MTN said that low-denomination vouchers have been a key driver in stimulating usage. <\/p>\n
MTN’s market share in the local arena was maintained at 36% at 31 December 2007.<\/p>\n
Blended Average Revenue per User (ARPU) decreased by 9% to R149 at 31 December 2007, from R164 at 31 December 2006. Prepaid ARPU remained relatively stable, declining marginally to R92 from R94 owing to more affordable lower denomination vouchers. <\/p>\n
Postpaid ARPU decreased to R396 from R487 'because of increased penetration into the lower usage segments', MTN said.<\/p>\n
Network enhancement during the 12 month period included the commissioning of 371 2G base transceiver stations and 590 3G BTSs. At year-end, the total number of 3G sites was 1379, and 904 000 3G handsets and data cards were in use. <\/p>\n
MTN SA is also laying down its own fibre cable to ‘improve the capacity and quality of mobile transmission, and effectively manage margins’.<\/p>\n
MTN SA highlighted that their data proposition is gaining momentum, with a 42% increase in data revenue to R2.8 billion. “This was due to competitive pricing, increased 3G roll-out and improved stock management in the channels,” the company said.<\/p>\n