MTN Nigeria says its subscriber base has reached 45.6 million and grew by 5.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2012.
In a report released by the company in Lagos yesterday, the GSM firm said the MTN Group recorded 182.7 million subscribers.
The statement reads in part: “The MTN Group delivered a satisfactory set of results for the quarter ended? September 30, 2012, increasing subscriber numbers by 3.8 percent to 182.7 million across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin Republic, Botswana, Cameroun, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia.
“This solid operational performance over the past quarter enabled MTN to increase guidance for net additions for 2012 from 21.25 million to 23.70 million.”
In Nigeria, MTN said although it has continued to face challenges, subscriber growth showed a healthy improvement during the quarter, increasing 5.7 per cent and maintaining market share. It led to significant price declines driven by promotional activities.
“Elasticity has steadily improved during the quarter and billable minutes of use increased by 24 per cent month-on-month (MoM) in September. Parts of the network have experienced some deterioration in congestion levels. Data continued to gain momentum, although growth in 2G data users was impacted by network congestion.
Local currency ARPUs (average revenue per user) declined by 9.3 per cent for the quarter mainly due to lower tariffs. Network quality and capacity remains a priority and are being addressed through a comprehensive network rollout programme. This will be a key focus over the next six to 12 months,” the statement added.