JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Mobile network operator MTN Nigeria Communications, reported it has exceeded expectations by signing up 200,000 subscribers six months after its commercial launch in August 2001.
The company’s business plan had originally projected 173,000 subscribers by March 2002. The operator is reported to be Nigeria’s cellular market leader, providing potential coverage to approximately 18 million of the country’s 124 million population and expanding across eight major cities.
MTN Nigeria has invested US$420 million in its network. The company has already implemented four switching centers and the fifth will be implemented next month.
Adrian Wood, chief executive officer (CEO) of MTN Nigeria, said, “We have consolidated our early leadership by making MTN a clear number one for network quality, innovation and customer service value. MTN is a new company, but also a company of new ideals for the future of wireless communications in Nigeria.”
As well as being first to market in each city, starting with Lagos on 16 May, 2001, the operator was first to introduce value-added services such as voice mail, short message service and international direct dialing (IDD) through its own gateway.
Commenting on recent rumours about the naira’s devaluation against the U.S. dollar, Paul Edwards, M-Cell/MTN Group CEO, said, “MTN is aware of the risks inherent in operating in developing economies and is taking all the necessary steps to manage these risks. Our recent conclusion of a $170 million naira-denominated bond is in line with our intention to maximize local funding and reduce foreign exchange exposure. We were pleased to find that the bond was oversubscribed, indicating strong Nigerian investor confidence in MTN.”
Pyramid Research forecast recently that Nigeria will only need two years of competition to vault itself into the ranks of sub-Saharan Africa’s five largest cellular markets, in subscriber and revenue terms, and estimates that cell phone revenue in Nigeria will grow to $1.9 billion by 2006.
