Cellular services provider MTN Group has recorded a 55% year-on-year growth in subscribers in its operations to 24 185 000, the company said in a statement on Monday.
This represents a 4% increase since the last reported period ended December 31 2005, the group said.
Excluding operations acquired in the previous financial period, year-on-year subscriber growth was 43%.
“Traditionally, seasonality in the first quarter of the calendar year results in lower connections and air-time usage relative to the remaining quarters. The first quarter of a new financial year reports the quarter’s average revenue per user [ARPU], while the previous period’s ARPU is a year-to-date number.
“Due to the change in year-end, this is the first time that ARPUs are being disclosed for the first quarter to March 31,” the group said.
MTN South Africa showed strong post-paid acquisitions, according to the statement.
Pre-paid acquisitions also remained strong although declining on a net basis due to increased churn at the low end following the promotion of pre-paid product in the previous quarter.
The promotion had since been terminated, and net connections had now normalised, the group said.
The subscriber base of MTN Group’s South African operations therefore reduced by 36 000 in the first quarter of the year. MTN Group’s international operations recorded 13 986 000 subscribers — an increase of 8% since December 2005, now accounting for 58% of group subscriber base (December 31 2005: 56%).
“MTN Nigeria remained the largest of the international operations, with growth of 8% since the prior quarter and its closing base of 9 036 000 representing 65% of the group’s subscribers outside of South Africa,” the group stated.
For MTN South Africa the current quarter’s blended ARPU reduced to R155 in line with the group’s expectations with pre-paid ARPU of R87 and post-paid ARPU of R496 being recorded.
MTN Nigeria recorded blended ARPU of $19, which is a 5% reduction quarter-on-quarter, in line with group expectations. When compared with the average ARPU for the nine months ended December 31 2005, the quarter’s ARPU dropped by $3, or 14%.
The group said its operations in Iran are still on target to launch within its licence commitment. — I-Net Bridge