MTN Planning $3.8 Billion CAPEX During 2008
South Africa based MTN Group has pledged to spend up to R30.5 billion (US$3.8 billion) this year on improving its networks in South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria. The company has admitted that the service it is offering in those markets has not been up to expectations - particularly in Nigeria, where complaints about poor reliability on all networks is rife.
The company has already suspended taking new connections in Ghana until the network capacity is increased and is fighting the regulator over similar issues in Nigeria.
Speaking earlier this week, MTN's CEO Phuthuma Nhleko said "We are dealing with significant growth in demand that's outstripped capacity. We have resolved to make 2008 a very large capex year to try to ensure we fully exploit the demand and don’t find ourselves losing out on this growth,"
"Economies of scale in this business are very important," Nhleko said. "We have got to a stage where if there are opportunities outside Africa and the Middle East, provided they give us some critical mass and make sense for that region, we’d consider them."
Earlier this week, MTN announced that it has recorded a 53% surge in its subscriber base last year to reach a total of 61.4 million subscribers across its 21 operations. The MTN Group's revenue increased by 42% to R73.1 billion (US$9.06 billion) from R51.6 billion (US$6.4 billion) recorded at 31 December 2006.
Posted to the site on 20th March 2008
