The MTN Group has signed a group-wide contract with UK-based Aircom International, an independent mobile network planning and optimisation consultancy. The contract is effective from January 2008 and continues for five years, says spokesman Dave McCann.
Aircom would not disclose the value of the contract. However, CEO Margaret Rice-Jones says the company will provide network planning tools and consultancy to all the regional operators in the MTN Group across the Middle East and Africa.
MTN has operations in 21 countries, servicing over 54 million subscribers as at 30 September.
The new group-wide agreement standardises pricing, Aircom says. It also outlines delivery and service level agreements for all Aircom tools and services.
Aircom already has an established supplier relationship with the MTN Group. "MTN SA uses Aircom's Asset network planning tool, and has done so for the last 12 years," the company says.
The phenomenal growth of mobile telecoms in Africa places new pressures and demands on operators' existing network infrastructure, which require "radically new solutions" that go beyond conventional planning and management techniques, says Rice-Jones.
Aircom also clarifies that it was not involved with the MTNZone, a prepaid per-second billing product offering prepaid subscribers discounts ranging from 5% to 95%, depending on the time of day and their location.
MTN is using MTNZone to optimise its network usage. Customers on the package are encouraged to call more, and to make use of the cellular network when it is not busy, through the higher discounts. MTN SA CEO Tim Lowry says the company plans to roll out MTNZone to its other operations.
Uptake for MTNZone is strong, with more than two million prepaid subscribers migrating to the product since its test launch at the beginning of December.
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