MTN Group reports decent performance in South Africa, Nigeria, and Iran

MTN Group announced it had just over 170 million customers at the end of March – a rise of 3.7 per cent over the figure three months ago.

MTN’s domestic network in South Africa contributed 13.3 per cent to group subscribers and delivered a sound performance in a mature market. It increased its subscriber base 3.2 per cent for the quarter. Blended ARPU declined 7.9% mainly due to a reduction in interconnect rates. Postpaid and prepaid ARPU decreased 6.7 per cent and 8.1 per cent respectively.

MTN Nigeria contributed 25.1 per cent to group subscribers and increased its subscriber base by three per cent for the quarter. Net connections of 1.258 million were negatively impacted by a nationwide strike in January and aggressive competition.

Local currency ARPU declined by 1.1per cent for the quarter.

MTN Irancell contributed 21.6 per cent to group subscribers. On a proportional basis, reflecting MTN’s 49 per cent ownership, its contribution was 11.9 per cent. It grew its subscriber base by 6.2 per cent and increased its share of the market for the quarter. Local currency ARPU increased 3.7 per cent due to improved network quality. Competition is expected to increase when a third mobile operator launches commercially before the middle of this year.