Profile

Incorporated in 1994, MTN Group Limited is a multinational telecommunications company offering mobile communication and related products and services to individuals and businesses on three continents. MTN has mobile licences in 21 countries and internet service provider (ISP) businesses in 13 countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East.

MTN is also invested in tower management companies in Ghana and Uganda. At the end of December 2011, MTN had 164,5 million subscribers. In 2011, total revenues reached R121,9 billion and during the year the Group invested R17,7 billion in developing its network infrastructure. Included in capital expenditure are investments in metropolitan and long-distance fibre optic cables. MTN continues accessing more broadband capacity on undersea cables.

MTN’s vision is to be the leader in telecommunications in emerging markets.

In 2011, MTN invested R265 million in developing its employees, mainly through the MTN Academies established in Johannesburg, Accra and Dubai.

MTN’s head office is in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the Group is listed on the JSE Limited under the share code “MTN”.

Until recently, the Group organised its operations into three regions: South and East Africa (SEA), West and Central Africa (WECA), and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It currently discloses detailed information on its five largest markets: South Africa, Nigeria, Iran, Ghana and Syria.

From April 2012, a new organisational structure will be in place, better reflecting the contribution of the various markets and helping to optimise the business at a Group level. This replaces the three regional vice presidents reporting to the Group President and CEO, with the CEOs of South Africa and Nigeria and a chief operations executive, supported by an operations executive. For the purposes of the 2011 financial year, the three regions were the following:

• MTN SEA, made up of MTN South Africa, MTN Zambia, MTN Uganda, MTN Rwanda, MTN Swaziland and Mascom Botswana. The Group has GSM licences in all these countries. It also has ISP businesses in South Africa, Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda, Botswana, Namibia and Kenya. In 2011, MTN SEA made up 37% of Group revenue and 29% of Group EBITDA.*
• MTN WECA, comprising MTN Nigeria, MTN Ghana, MTN Cameroon, MTN Côte d’Ivoire, MTN Congo-Brazzaville, MTN Benin, MTN Guinea-Bissau, MTN Guinea Conakry (trading under the Areeba brand) and MTN Liberia (trading under Lonestar Cell brand). The Group has GSM licences in all these countries. It also has ISP businesses in Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. In 2011, MTN WECA contributed 43% to Group revenue and 54% to Group EBITDA.*
• MTN MENA, consisting of MTN Irancell, MTN Syria, MTN Sudan, MTN Afghanistan, MTN Yemen and MTN Cyprus. The Group has GSM licences in all these countries. MTN also has ISP businesses in Syria and Cyprus. In 2011, MTN MENA made up 20% of Group revenue and 15% of Group EBITDA.*

* Note: difference in EBITDA percentage calculation is due to head office costs.

MTN’s core offerings include:

Voice services
	Voice services via 2G and 3G networks, including prepaid and postpaid airtime.
	Although the majority of MTN customers are on prepaid packages, South Africa, Syria and Cyprus have a relatively large postpaid base.
	MTN Zone is a dynamic tariffing service pioneered successfully by MTN. The service offers discounted call rates based on network use and available capacity.
	MTN’s voice offering also includes international roaming, teleconferencing facilities and various community payphones models.
	MTN also provides interconnection services to other telecoms networks.

Data services
	Mobile and fixed data services via various technologies (including 3G, WiMax, EDGE, HSPA, HSDPA, WCDMA).
	Mobile messaging, including basic short message services (SMS), and multimedia message services or MMS, enabling customers to send various media including music, photographs and videos from their phones.
	MTN Mobile Money a cash transfer service launched in 12 markets.
	MTN Play content portal provides entertainment service.
	MTN also has various USSD services (including callback and balance enquiries).
	MTN customers can access the Opera Mini Browser in some markets, offering access to the web from mobile phones.
	MTN has also launched m-insurance and m-health services in some markets.
	As smartphones become more accessible to people, demand for internet service grows and so does MTN’s opportunity.

ICT
	MTN Business provides enterprise solutions and cloud computing services.
	In 13 of its markets, MTN serves large corporate customers, providing solutions designed to manage costs, improve efficiencies and deliver consistent quality.
	Among these are: corporate data solutions, satellite connectivity, infrastructure (data centres and hosting solutions), networking of customer branches (an MPLS network), videoconferencing and ePresence, customer and productivity solutions, system security, converged services, other support and sector-specific services, and cloud computing.