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Operational reviews
continued
The operation rolled out 1 799 3G sites and 1 833 LTE
sites in the year. Capex increased by more than
100%* to R8 701 million, focused on LTE rollout.
MTN Nigeria more than doubled its NPS in the fourth
quarter from the same period a year earlier.
After investing over 10 billion naira in various
community projects in its decade of existence, the
MTN Nigeria Foundation continued to work to build
shared value in 2016. Among its work in the year
was providing online training in Java Fundamental
and Oracle Database in partnership with Oracle.
A strong performance supported by
attractive offers
MTN Ghana
grew its subscriber base by 18,7% to
19,3 million, driven by attractive value propositions,
which helped its market share expand to 56,4%
from 52,2% a year earlier.
Total revenue increased by 19,8%*, largely
attributable to solid growth in data and outgoing
voice revenue and digital lifestyle-based services.
Data revenue grew by 65,7%* and contributed 42%
to total revenue, driven by expansion of network
quality and coverage, increased distribution and
marketing of low-cost smartphones, the introduction
of higher spectrum technology and falling tariffs.
There has been uptake in data usage supported by
lifestyle bundles, specifically for social network
access, as well as new data bundles introduced
with the launch of 4G. The number of smartphones
on the network increased by 64,4% to 5,3 million.
Digital revenue contributed 48% to data revenue
and was supported by mobile financial services,
lifestyle-based services, rich video and MTN Music.
MTN Mobile Money active subscribers increased by
79,4% to 5,7 million, supported by strong regional
innovation and marketing.
The EBITDA margin increased by 0,2 percentage
points to 40,7% despite increased tower leasing
costs and utilities, impacted by the depreciation of
the cedi and high inflation. The operation continued
to successfully implement cost-control initiatives.
Capex increased by 15,9%* to R2 435 million
prioritising improved quality. The operation added
226 co-located 3G and 475 LTE sites during the
period. The increase in the net promoter score was
mainly driven by value as well as products.
Quality of service indicators such as network
availability and dropped call rate improved in the
year. The call set-up success rate indicator improved
from 2015 with regards to the 3G network but a
decline was noted in the 2G network (see 90).
The MTN Ghana Foundation marked nine years of
making a difference in the lives of its communities in
2016, providing capacity building for teachers and
scholarships to students and by constructing a
library in a rural community as well as classrooms.
MTN Ghana was named the CSR Company of the
Year at the CSR Excellence Awards.
Impacted by subscriber registration
requirements
MTN Cameroon
increased its subscriber base by
7,5% to 9,9 million mainly as a result of an aggressive
subscriber registration campaign as well as a
reduction in churn following customer campaigns.
Total revenue decreased by 6,7%* because of a
decline in outgoing voice revenue, impacted in turn
by a decrease in the effective tariff as well as free
minutes used in relation to the subscriber registration
process and below-the-line activities. This was
offset by a 25,9%* increase in data revenue that
contributed 19% to total revenue, supported by an
increase in data usage due to higher sales of
specific data bundles. The expansion of 3G and LTE
networks supported data growth. The number of
smartphones on the network for the period was
1,3 million.
Digital revenue contributed 21% to data revenue,
supported by the lifestyle segment, MTN Play and
the ringtone customisation tool MTN Zik. The number
of MTN Mobile Money active subscribers increased
by over 100% to 367 000.
MTN Cameroon’s EBITDA margin decreased by
2,8 percentage points to 33,4% mainly as a result of
costs related to subscriber registration campaigns.
We implemented several cost-reduction initiatives
during the year.
West and Central Africa
continued
MTN Group Limited
Integrated Report 2016
50