The Nation Newspaper

Tag: MTN Nigeria

  • ‘We’re committed to adding value to our subscribers’

    ‘We’re committed to adding value to our subscribers’

    MTN Nigeria has said that it is ready to implement Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in consonance with the policy of the industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The NCC has recently announced plans to flag off Mobile Number Portability in the first quarter of this year.

    Speaking at an internal stakeholder forum recently, MTN CEO, Brett Goschen, said the company had been ramping up efforts to make MNP a reality for mobile phone users in Nigeria who are eager to join the country’s most expansive network.

    “We have made necessary investment in infrastructure and manpower and we are now finalising the process of making this project a reality,” said Goschen, adding: “We are confident that when the NCC is ready to blow the whistle for the kick-off of this project, we will be ready.”

    Goschen disclosed that a series of tests had been carried out on the company’s systems and infrastructure, saying that more tests will be carried out in the days ahead to ensure that the project takes off without any hitch.

    “We are excited that customers who wish to join the network with the most coverage of Nigeria will now be able to do so without worrying about losing their mobile numbers. As you know, we have made far more investment in our network than any other operator in Nigeria has done, with the result that we are today the clear leader with effective network coverage of more than 85 percent of Nigeria’s land mass and population.

    “We have nearly 100 percent coverage of most major highways in Nigeria and we are gradually moving towards the final laps of a massive, nationwide network modernisation and swap-out exercise that is bound to give the network unequalled capacity and much improved quality of service. We have no doubt in our minds that mobile phone users on other networks in Nigeria will be eager to port into MTN to avail themselves of these and other benefits they can only find on the MTN network,” he said.

    According to Goschen, apart from its massive investment in its core services, MTN remains the only operator that has created a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) vehicle, MTN Foundation (MTNF), to implement life-impacting social projects across the length and breadth of Nigeria and had invested over N5 billion in such social projects which have directly and indirectly impacted on millions of lives.

    He affirmed the company’s commitment to continue to seek for ways of adding value to the lives of Nigerians both through the company’s core services and corporate social investment initiatives.

    “We have nearly 100 percent coverage of most major highways in Nigeria and we are gradually moving towards the final lap of a massive, nationwide network modernisation and swap-out exercise that is bound to give the network unequalled capacity and much-improved quality of service. We have no doubt in our minds that mobile phone users on other networks in Nigeria will be eager to port into MTN to avail themselves of these and other benefits they can only find on the MTN network,” Goschen said.

  • Dominant operator: Why MTN has not complied

    Dominant operator: Why MTN has not complied

    Nigeria’s dominant operator in the voice segment of the telecoms sector, MTN Nigeria, says it has not implemented the directive issued to it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) because it does not want to hurt its subscribers. It said it wants to execute the regulators’ directive in a manner that will not negatively affect its customers. The implementation of the directive, according to the NCC, ought to have taken effect May 1st.

    The NCC, in its recent industry review, noted that phone calls between MTN customers cost three times lower than calls to other networks, stressing that, “This is indicative of the likely establishment of a calling club for MTN subscribers.”

    Based on the report and desirous of providing a level playing field for all the operators, the NCC directed the dominant operator to, among others, “Collapse of On net and Off net Retail Tariffs: The differential between the on–net and off net retail tariffs will be immediately collapsed. The tariff for on net and off net will be the same, and subject to periodic review.”

    Investigation by The Nation shows that the contrary has been the case as the telco has largely failed to comply with the regulator’s directives.

    Justifying the failure of the telco to obey the directive of the NCC, General Manager, Public Affairs, MTN, Funmi Omogbenigun says, it is the duty of the NCC to approve tariff structure, arguing that the telco was still in talks with the regulator with a view to arriving at a mutually acceptable modus operandi and modus vivendi  to implement the directive,

    “By law, NCC must approve tariffs; as such we are currently in discussion with the NCC. We are also discussing the issue of implementation with the NCC, to ensure that their direction is implemented in a manner that causes the least possible negative impact on our customers, if any,” she explained in a electronic mail or email to The Nation.

    According to her, the tariff charged by the telco on its on/off net tariffs remains extremely competitive when compared with what other operators charge in the market.

    “With respect to the other comments in your enquiry regarding MTN tariffs our response is that the differential between our on/off net tariff is extremely competitive compared with other operators. Indeed the differential between on/off net tariffs for one network is as much as 1000%,” the general manager added.

    The NCC’s industry review had shown that phone calls between MTN customers cost three times lower than calls to other networks. MTN, which has about 44 per cent of the market share, must cut the difference in price by collapsing on/off net calls and face further scrutiny to ensure the telecoms landscape is made competitive for all the other operators, the NCC insisted.

    “The Commission has resolved that the Dominant Operator (MTN) in the mobile voice market shall be required to adhere to the following obligations:

    “Accounting Separation: The Commission will immediately enforce and implement Accounting Separation on the dominant operator

    ”Submission of Required Details: The Commission may require the dominant operator to submit details on specific aspects of its operations from time to time as the need arises.”

    The NCC added that it shall make a determination of pricing principle to address the rate charges for on-net and off-net calls for all other operators

    On the Dominat operatorship in the ‘Wholesale Leased Lines and Transmission’ which Globacom shared with  MTN, NCC said it will impose price cap/price floor for wholesale services and price floor for retail services which shall be subject to periodic review, adding it will also “immediately enforce and implement accounting separation on the joint dominant operator.”

    Nigeria is Africa’s fastest growing telecoms market with a population of 167 million people. She has a subscriber base that is slightly above 113 million at the end of 2012, according to the NCC. MTN Nigeria is the market leader with about 50 million lines while Globacom had 24 million subscribers. Airtel has about 23 million customers while Etisalat has 15 million, according to data on the NCC’s website.

  • MTN Nigeria profit drops 6.2%

    MTN Nigeria profit drops 6.2%

    Contrary to previous years, MTN Group has said Nigeria negatively impacted the Group’s overall margin performance by 6.2 per cent, adding that the firm has enjoyed an improvement in the fourth quarter, which it expects to continue during 2013.

    According to the telco’s results for the year ended 31, December 2012 released yeterday, total revenue grew by 7,1 per cent to R41,4 billion (about N716 billion) from R38,6 billion (about N668.1 billion) in the previous year. “After a challenging year, Nigeria reported a decline in EBITDA of 6.2 per cent,” MTN lamented.

    According to the figures, the growth was primarily driven by solid growth in data (excluding short message services or SMS) and airtime revenue, supported by subscriber growth. Data revenue increased by 37,6 per cent and contributed 15,5 per cent to total revenue (excluding SMS). Data revenue was boosted by the increase in data users to 13,4 million from 10,9 million, and 5,5 million smartphones on the network.

    “Revenue for the year increased 10,9 per cent, with the majority of our operations delivering strong organic growth. Organic revenue growth for all operations excluding Nigeria increased 12,3 per cent. Despite a challenging period for Nigeria (revenue **-0.8 per cent) following significant tariff declines amid heightened competition, the last quarter of 2012 has delivered consistent month-on-month growth, highlighting the strong underlying demand which we expect to continue in 2013,” the statement released by the telco stated.

    Reacting to this development, Corporate Services Executive at MTN Nigeria, Akinwale Goodluck, blamed the fall in financial contributions from the country, on the 30 per cent decrease in call tariff in the country occasioned by the display of “exhuberance by the operators” in the country.

    According to him, the many freebies that were extended to the subscribers on the network in order to acquire more subscribers led to the erosion of value from the industry.

    He commended the regulator of the industry, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for stepping in when it did to stop promotion and lotteries on the network, adding that MTN as a buisiness organisation, takes the interest of its customers seriously. “As a business, we have taken steps to ensure that the interests of our subscribers are protected by not sacrificing quality service on the altar of customer acqusition,” he said.

    That notwithstanding, Goodluck disclosed that about 13.1 billion Rand (around $1.583 billion) has been earmarked by the Group as capital expenditure (capex) for Nigeria. He said the figure is about 50 per cent of the Group’s total capex of 29 billion Rand (over $3 billion) for this year and it is the highest alocation in all its 22 countries of operation.

    Next to MTN Nigeria in the capital expenditure allocation is South Africa followed by Iran with 5 billion Rand and less than 2 billion Rand respectively.

    Goodluck recalled that capex actually spent in Nigeria last year was $1.65 billion, adding that it comprised 2012 capex plus the balance of capex rolled over from 2011.

  • MTN backs bank-led mobile money services

    MTN backs bank-led mobile money services

    MTN Nigeria is supporting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) bank- led mobile money model.

    The CBN recently licensed some financial institutions to carry out mobile money services with the objective of providing easy money transfer services, using mobile phones and enhancing financial inclusion, particularly in rural areas.

    MTN’s Corporate Services Executive Akinwale Goodluck, said the CBN bank-led model has many merits and that it is full implementation would achieve the CBN’s stated objective to extend money transfer services to millions of Nigerians who are currently underserved.

    “We are supportive of any initiative that brings financial inclusion to the masses and the Central Bank’s efforts in this regard are highly commendable,” Goodluck who spoke at a capcity building forum in Lagos said at the weekend, adding that the partnership between licensed organizations and telecommunications companies is a win-win combination.

    He said, “The current partnership between banks and telcos in the mobile money space leverages available cutting edge ICT technology offered by telcos and best practice payment protocols and expertise supervised by the CBN.”

    During the seminar, participants gained a better understanding of the details of the CBN guidelines and discussed various ways in which MTN could offer tangible backbone and logistical support to licensed organizations.

    In his closing remarks, Goodluck remarked that as the leading ICT company, MTN’s greatest responsibility to its customers and to Nigeria is to provide world class quality of service in order to support a multitude of products and services. He observed that MTN Nigeria had already built the largest and most sophisticated network in Africa.

    “The world today is heavily dependent on ICT. Our future success as a company depends on how well we support services like mobile money,” he said.