Press Releases

MTN continues strong growth trend with over 44m subscribers

The MTN Group has announced that it recorded 44,301,000 subscribers at 31 March 2007. This is up 11% for the quarter from 40,051,000 subscribers reported for the Group at 31 December 2006.

The subscriber base at 31 March 2007 is reported using the MTN Group’s definition of subscribers who have made or received a revenue generating call in the last 90 days.

The SEA region contributed to 37% of the Group’s total subscribers and WECA and MENA regions contributed 49% and 14% respectively.

The South and East Africa (SEA) region increased its subscriber base by 6% for the quarter. Growth in the region was driven principally by MTN South Africa, which showed a healthy improvement in net connections for the quarter. Subscribers in South Africa increased by 4% for the three months to 13,030,000, while Uganda had a 10% growth to 1,757,000 subscribers over the quarter.

In the West and Central Africa (WECA) region, the 10% growth for the quarter is still mainly from MTN Nigeria’s contribution and to a lesser extent from Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. Nigeria achieved subscriber growth of 9% in the quarter, reaching 13,384,000 subscribers. Ghana increased its base by 13% to 2,924,000 subscribers and Cote d’Ivoire by a healthy 22% to 1,975,000 subscribers over the same period.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region recorded subscriber growth of 28% for the quarter mainly due to the aggressive subscriber acquisition by MTN Irancell who, albeit off a low base, grew 601% to 1,080,000 subscribers from December 2006. There was also continued strong growth in Afghanistan (62%) and to a lesser extent Sudan (11%).

Says MTN Group President and CEO, Mr Phuthuma Nhleko: “I am pleased with the subscriber growth we have recorded in the first quarter, which is in line with our expectations.”

ARPU is defined as being the Average Revenue per User on a monthly basis and is generally disclosed in any financial year on a year-to-date basis. MTN South Africa’s ARPU declined by 10% to R148 in line with seasonal trends and the stepped change as the new year’s average takes affect.

The ARPUs of most of the Group’s other operations have followed a similar trend. Nigerian and Ghanaian ARPUs remained strong at $17 and $16 respectively, while Iran’s ARPU increased as coverage improved and more subscribers were taken on.

“Assuming the continuation of current market conditions, we expect to continue the healthy subscriber growth trend across all our operations and to consolidate our position as the leader in emerging markets,” concludes Nhleko.