MTN expects 40m subscribers

Johannesburg, 31 Aug 2006

South African-based cellular company MTN aims to add eight million subscribers by December, taking its total base to 39.5 million subscribers.

The company, which presented its half-year results yesterday, said it has a presence in 11 countries and its recent acquisition, Investcom, has a presence in 10 countries, taking the company`s offerings to 21 countries.

There are a total of 488 million people in these countries, of which the cellular group says it has 31.5 million as subscribers if it includes the Investcom figures.

On its own, MTN has a subscriber base of 25.4 million, as of the end of June. This represents growth of 9.4%, from 21.3 million as of December last year. Of these, its strongest presence is in SA, with 10.4 million subscribers, and Nigeria, with 9.7 million subscribers.

MTN aims to add a further 2.6 million subscribers in Nigeria, down from its previously stated three million goal. Nigeria saw subscriber growth of 15% in the half-year, up from 8.37 million.

In SA, it seeks to add two million subscribers to its base, which grew by 2% in the half-year, from 10.235 million. The postpaid component of the subscriber base was the main contributor to the increase, which recorded 216 000 net additions in the first six months.

The prepaid base remained constant, despite declines in the first quarter due to increased churn at the low end of the customer base. Net additions were positive in the second quarter of 2006, with 238 000 net new customers, with post- and prepaid contributing equally to this position, it said.

In Iran - where it will soon launch commercially - the company aims to add a million subscribers by year-end.

It also sees Investcom adding 2.5 million subscribers by December 2006.