The MTN Group believes that information and communication technologies (ICTs) are an indispensable catalyst for economic development; one that affords developing countries the opportunity to leapfrog many stages of modernisation from a technological perspective.

The Group's aim to achieve excellence in each operation and in corporate citizenship presents many challenges. Each of our businesses faces differing economic, social and regulatory requirements. Each faces competition and rapid technological advances that prescribe tailored responses. Nonetheless, at a group level, our key strategies are clear:

• We will focus on increasing communications network capacity where needed, and not merely increasing geographic coverage
• We will concentrate on increasing customer loyalty, and stimulating usage through innovative services
• We will continue to play an important role in bridging the digital divide, providing telecommunications services in emerging markets
• We will continue to invest in emerging markets, developing new growth engines to fuel the next phase of our development and diversifying our revenue sources
• We will continue to support African continental and emerging market development initiatives
• We will continue to embrace the philosophies of corporate citizenship and sustainable development in all our operations

MTN's had adopted a two-fold expansion strategy of leveraging existing business and growing into new markets. The strategy has proven to be sound and has enabled us to meet our objective of developing telecommunications in emerging markets and realising a good return on investments (ROI).

The strategy is characterised by:

Pursuit of new geographies

• MTN Group is routinely evaluating new licence bids but also licence acquisition opportunities in emerging markets

Making small/uneconomic licenses attractive through:


• MTN has adopted a regional approach aimed at consolidation and creating economies of scale

Leveraging common infrastructure to exploit new opportunities


• Fixed line services, Data and Internet, Satellite, Applications Transmission capacity, VPN

Focus on R&D and innovation to create new services


• MTN has created an incubator environment within in its quest for innovative offerings. MTN's success, in this regard, is manifest in developed new applications e.g. mobile payments, utilizing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), etc

Sound investment criteria when rolling out into new markets, has been a key discipline that has helped us maintain a good balance between operational objectives and shareholder return.

Making a significant and real contribution to the economies of the territories in which we operate is a priority for MTN and is an important component of our vision to be a leading provider of telecommunications in emerging markets. In line with this, up to December 2005, our investment in cellular infrastructure in our operating territories had already exceeded R30 billion - a significant contribution also to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) goals for ICT development for the continent.