JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Mobile network operator MTN Nigeria announced it has broken the 1 million subscriber barrier, the first network operator in the country to achieve this. In addition, the company announced it would invest US$60 million for the company to immediately embark on a network expansion project, designed to satisfy subscriber demand for its services.
Adrian Wood, chief executive officer (CEO) of MTN Nigeria, said the milestone has been reached through a combination of hard work, innovation, diligent planning and sound business judgment.
“Our efforts to spread our service to a growing number of locations in Nigeria, though Herculean, have often met with an uptake that encourages us to continue to provide excellent services,” added Wood.
The additional funds of US$60 million will be used to add 200 base stations to the existing 400, while enhanced connectivity to the base stations will be augmented by the various switching centers being built across Nigeria. Currently, MTN has eight operational switching centers with the ninth set to go in Ibadan shortly.
“We have had to construct at great cost to ourselves, a microwave backbone, which we call Y’helloBahn, across Nigeria. That backbone spans across 3,400 kilometers of Nigeria. It is Africa’s longest transmission infrastructure, and we are eminently proud of the fact that it was built by Nigerians,” Wood said.
Phase two of the backbone is scheduled to begin between May and June.
These various initiatives are expected to enhance the network, which has a current installed capacity of 1.2 million subscribers. This capacity has meant that MTN cannot continue to trade without bringing heavy pressure on the network while expansion continues.
