MTN Nigeria and Huawei Complete World’s First Commercial FDD Tri-Band Massive MIMO Deployment

This breakthrough has led to a 90% surge in LTE traffic volume and a 252% increase in user-perceived rates during peak hours over the previous 4T4R setup. The deployment has enabled MTN to achieve its goals of improving network capacity and user experience.

Over the past two years, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has undergone a rapid transition from 2G/3G to 4G, accompanied by a surge in new digital services. This transition has doubled traffic demand on MTN Nigeria’s networks, leading to an average PRB usage of 60% and over 90% in hotspot areas. To meet these growing needs, MTN Nigeria and Huawei have collaborated to scale the adoption of single-band FDD Massive MIMO. They successfully introduced the world’s first FDD Massive MIMO six-sector site, which has significantly improved network spectral efficiency and capacity.

This commercial FDD tri-band Massive MIMO solution, the first of its kind worldwide, is a significant milestone in mobile network development. Huawei had only recently announced the global launch of this solution that features a downlink LTE capacity three to four times higher than the previous 4T4R setup. Furthermore, it can amplify capacity by up to 7 times as the networks evolve to NR. The solution uses the industry-leading true wideband and compact dipole technologies to implement integrated deployment of 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, and 2.6 GHz bands while maintaining the same device size as traditional dual-band Massive MIMO. This design adds frequency bands and power without increasing weight or frontal area of devices, ensuring excellent performance and easy deployment.

Through long-term collaboration and innovation, MTN and Huawei have achieved remarkable success in the FDD Massive MIMO field. The world’s first commercial FDD tri-band Massive MIMO significantly enhances network performance, enabling MTN to deliver an exceptional user experience. Both parties will continue to drive technological innovation, tackle key challenges in network development, and provide superior communication services to users.

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MTN hikes data prices, Nigerians outraged amid rising living costs

Nigeria’s leading telecommunications provider, MTN, has implemented a price hike on internet plans following the Nigerian Communications Commission's (NCC) approval of a 50% tariff increase in January.

Addressing user concerns, MTN wrote: “Y'ello! Thanks for stopping by, We apologise for any inconvenience and delayed Response. A price increase has been implemented to enhance our services and serve you better, which is why you are seeing the updated amount."

Under the revised pricing, the 1.8GB monthly plan now costs ₦1,500, replacing the previous 1.5GB plan that was priced at ₦1,000. The 20GB plan has increased to ₦7,500 from ₦5,500, while the 15GB plan now costs ₦6,500, up from ₦4,500.

Larger data bundles have seen even steeper increases. The 90-day 1.5TB plan has jumped from ₦150,000 to ₦240,000, while the 600GB 90-day plan has risen from ₦75,000 to ₦120,000.

Telecom operators push for tariff hike

Major telecom providers in Nigeria, including MTN, Airtel, and 9Mobile, have long advocated for price adjustments to align with economic realities. Despite mounting operational costs driven by inflation, telecom operators have been unable to increase prices for over a decade.

Following last month’s announcement of a looming telecom tariff hike, MTN Nigeria’s share price surged, reflecting renewed investor confidence in the company’s profitability after two years of sustained losses.

MTN Nigeria has been working to accelerate its earnings and recover from these losses. The approved tariff increase is expected to help mitigate the effects of macroeconomic challenges and support the company’s financial stability.

Data tariff hike sparks outrage

The price hike has sparked concerns and outrage among customers, who argue that prior notice about the implementation date should have been communicated.

By Adekunle Agbetiloye, Business Insider Africa

Nigeria union rejects telecom tariff hike, plans nationwide protest

Nigeria's main labour union has rejected a government-approved 50% hike in telecommunications tariffs and announced plans for a nationwide protest on Feb. 4.

The telecoms regulator last week approved the increase in mobile tariffs, the first such hike in more than a decade, bowing to pressure from operators struggling with surging costs amid high inflation and currency devaluation.

In a meeting of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) late on Wednesday, union leaders called the increase "insensitive, unjustifiable, and a direct assault" on citizens already grappling with the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation caused by reforms instituted by President Bola Tinubu.

"The rally will serve as a warning on the dangers of imposing such an unfair increase on a struggling population, NLC President Joe Ajaero said in a statement, citing high food costs and hikes in the prices of petrol and electricity.

The union demanded the immediate suspension of the tariff adjustment and called for dialogue between the government, the regulator and union leaders.

Ajaero threatened a nationwide boycott of telecommunications services and a possible strike if authorities refused to engage in dialogue.

The NLC, representing millions of workers, has repeatedly clashed with the government over economic reforms which it says exacerbate poverty, but officials argue the measures are necessary to stabilise the economy.

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

Video - Nigeria’s regulator hikes tariffs for telecoms

The Nigeria Communications Commission says it will approve a 50 percent tariff increase following a request from telecommunication operators in the country, in line with rising costs.

CGTN

MTN Shares Surge After Nigeria Raises Telecoms Tariffs by 50%

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc’s shares jumped after the Nigerian government raised telecommunications tariffs by 50% to offset the impact of the collapse in the naira and surging inflation.

The stock surged the maximum 10% to 256.30 naira at close in Lagos, the commercial capital. Rival Airtel Africa Plc was unchanged at 2,156.90 naira.

The Nigerian Communications Commission announced the tariff hike late Monday to “support the ability of operators to continue investing in infrastructure and innovation,” according to a statement.

The tariff increase — the first in more than a decade — was half of what companies such as MTN had asked for to weather harsh economic conditions, including a 41% depreciation in the naira against the dollar last year and inflation running near a three-decade high.

Even so, MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola said the adjustment was “an important step toward addressing the impact of the prevailing economic challenges on the company and industry. “It will enable us to maintain the critical investments required to deliver reliable, high-quality services,” he said in a filing to the Nigerian Exchange Group.

The increase will also help telecommunications companies in Africa’s most-populous nation return to profitability, Bismarck Rewane, CEO at consultancy Financial Derivatives Co., said. “Giving them the 50% tariff increase is a boost. We are going to see an increase in base stations, an increase in 5G deployment, an increase in capex,” he said by phone.

While the tariff hike is short of what the companies had asked for, Avior Capital Markets Ltd. analyst Mike Steere said it “far exceeds” the 10% to 20% price rise it had factored into its full-year earnings model for MTN in 2025. The increase should eventually support medium-term revenue growth of over 30%, he said.

Higher prices are also likely to have an inflationary impact in the short—term, Rewane said.

“It increases costs, which will pass through to the consumer,” he said. “But you will see that the telcos will have to invest more in capex and the quality of service will become a key issue. If quality of service improves, you will see productivity will improve. That may offset part of the inflationary impact.”

By Nduka Orjinmo and Emele Onu, Bloomberg

Related story: Nigeria approves tariff hikes to protect Telecoms operator margins

Nigeria approves tariff hikes to protect Telecoms operator margins

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) approved tariff increases for operators in a bid to balance rising operational costs with service quality in Nigeria’s challenging economic climate.

Operators sought to double prices, the NCC capped the increase at 50%, emphasising the need to protect consumers while enabling sustainable industry growth.

In a statement, the NCC noted that tariffs had “remained static” since 2013 despite mounting operational costs. It said the adjustment aims to address a “significant gap between operational costs and current tariffs” while ensuring service delivery to consumers remains unaffected.

The regulator added that higher tariffs would allow operators to invest in infrastructure and fund innovation projects, ultimately benefiting consumers through improved services.

Operators have been mandated to clearly communicate price changes to customers and demonstrate “measurable improvements in service delivery” alongside the increases.

Consumer advocacy group, the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), has vowed to contest the decision. NATCOMS president Deolu Ogunbanjo criticised the NCC for failing to involve subscribers in discussions, despite the regulator’s assertion that it held “extensive consultations with key stakeholders across the public and private sectors.” NATCOMS had previously advocated for a more modest increase of 5–10%.

By Manny Pham, Developing Telecoms

MTN posts half-year loss as Nigeria currency devaluation weighs

MTN Group reported a half-year loss on Monday as Africa's biggest telecom operator grappled with the devaluation of the Nigerian naira and operational challenges in Sudan.

It said it was working on cutting costs and reiterated it was on track to reach a target to sell off non-core assets by next year.

The company reported a loss before tax of 9 billion rand ($507 million) in the six-month period ended June 30, compared with a restated profit of 8.3 billion rand a year earlier.

"The further devaluation in the naira against the U.S. dollar ... and the ongoing conflict in Sudan had the most significant impact on reported results," CEO Ralph Mupita said.

Nigeria has suffered chronic dollar shortages that have forced authorities to devalue the naira twice in less than a year, as part of the new government's measures to stabilise the currency and attract investment.
MTN Nigeria which was the group's largest business, is now its second biggest by revenue.

The unit has a number of initiatives aimed at restoring profit and addressing its negative equity position, including concluding renegotiations earlier this month on tower lease terms with tower operator IHS.

The improved commercial terms are expected to result in annualised cost savings of between 100 billion to 110 billion naira ($71 million), with annualised EBITDA margin benefit of 4 to 6 percentage points, Mupita told investors.

This is "not a silver bullet in addressing negative equity," Mupita said, but added discussions continued on proposed tariff increases with Nigerian authorities that could help.

MTN Group, which has 288 million customers across 18 markets in Africa, said its group service revenue decreased 20.8% to 85.3 billion rand. In constant currency, group service revenue rose 12.1%.

The company has raised 21.7 billion rand so far as part of its 25 billion rand non-core asset sales programme and should reach its target by next year, Mupita said on a post-earnings media call.

The telecom operator reduced its stakes in MTN Ghana and MTN Uganda during the reporting period for a combined 1.7 billion rand.

There will be further stake sales in Ghana of about 2.1%, and in Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, according to Mupita.

By Nqobile Dludla, Reuters

Video - 5G network subscriptions in Nigeria increased to 2.3 million in December

Despite this growth, 5G comprises just over 1 percent of Nigeria's total active telephone service subscriptions, with 2G still dominating at 58 percent. Industry experts argue that the higher cost of 5G-enabled devices remains a barrier to wider adoption.

CGTN

MTN Nigeria posts ₦137 billion loss amidst naira devaluation

MTN Nigeria faced a challenging year in 2023, as the telecoms giant reported a loss after tax of ₦137.0 billion, a huge contrast to the ₦348.7 billion profits recorded in 2022.

The net foreign exchange loss for 2023 compared to 2022 was N740.434 billion, showing a YoY increase of +804.93%, as opposed to N81.822 billion in the previous year. However, revenue grew by 22.7% from N2.01trn to N2.47trn.

This is contained in the company's audited financial results for the year ended 31 December 2023.

According to Karl Toriola, MTN Nigeria CEO the telecom giant witnessed a very challenging operating environment characterised by rising inflation, currency devaluation and foreign exchange shortages, complicated by geopolitical disruptions and cash shortages in Q1.

The financial statement revealed that MTN's services revenue grew by 22.4%, driven primarily by data revenue growth of 39.8%. Voice revenue was up by 9.7%.

The company sustained robust commercial momentum in its connectivity business and platforms, fueled by the expansion of its user base, reaching over 4 million subscribers in 2023 and elevating the total base to 79.7 million. Data subscribers for the company increased by over 5 million to 44.6 million, which helped to drive total data traffic growth of 44.9%.

Dividend payment:

On 27 July 2023, the company's Board of Directors approved interim dividends of N117.48 billion for the year ended 31 December 2023 (Interim 2022: N113.99 billion). The interim dividend were paid out of interim profit made during the same period and represents N5.60 kobo per ordinary share on the issued share capital of 21 billion ordinary shares of 2 kobo each for the period ended 30 June 2023.

Given the significant currency devaluation and its impact on the retained earnings, the Directors will not be recommending a final dividend payment, in view of the resulting loss for the year ended 31 December 2023.

Fintech revenue

This increased by 2.4%, led by Xtratime (our airtime lending product), which rose by 2%. However, despite the challenges from the NIN requirement for KYC introduced in Q4 by the CBN, we added 3.3 million active wallets in the year to 5.3 million. This helped to drive MoMo PSB revenue, which rose by 8.1%.

Active mobile money (MoMo PSB) wallets increased by 163% to 5.3 million, powered by 326,000 MoMo agents, and 324,000 merchants in its ecosystem.

Outlook

MTN says it expects 2024 to be a challenging year due to the rising inflation and devaluation of the naira. In January 2024, the inflation rate reached 29.9%, while the exchange rate has further devalued to N1582/$ as of 26 February 2024. "This is anticipated to put additional pressure on consumers, the cost of doing business and further potential forex losses," it said.

By Adekunle Agbetiloye, Business Insider Africa

Related story: Video - MTN CEO resigns due to $5.2 billion fine imposed by Nigeria

$2 billion tax dispute case between MTN and Nigeria set for January 2020

A federal judge in Lagos has set Jan. 30 and 31 for the hearing of a $2 billion tax dispute between South Africa’s MTN Group and the Nigerian government.

The attorney general has demanded the telecoms firm pay the tax bill relating to the import of equipment and payments to foreign suppliers from 2007 to 2017, but MTN argues the claim is without merit and that the attorney general exceeded his powers in making the request.

On Tuesday, lawyers for the government submitted their case against MTN, insisting the attorney general has the power to levy the charge and requesting a court date in late January to continue the proceedings.

Government lawyers had in June asked that the case be adjourned until October to give time to prepare their case, the latest dispute between MTN and the Nigerian government.

Nigeria is the South African firm’s biggest market, with roughly 58 million users accounting for a third of its core profit.

In December, MTN agreed to make a $53 million payment to resolve a separate dispute with Nigeria’s central bank, which said the company improperly removed $8.1 billion from the country between 2007 and 2008.

MTN also this year was set to pay off another 330 billion naira ($1 billion) fine imposed for not disconnecting unregistered SIM cards.

In May, the company’s local unit, MTN Nigeria, listed in Lagos in a 2 trillion naira flotation that made it the second-largest stock on the bourse by market value.

It has said that it would sell more shares to the public and increase local ownership once the tax row is resolved.

Reuters

MTN to start to provide financial services in Nigeria

The fledgling mobile money market in Nigeria is about to get a major shake-up.

MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecoms operator, has been granted a “super agent” license which allows it set up an agent network through which it can provide financial services. It’s the first step in MTN’s plans to finally roll out mobile money services in Africa’s largest economy as the company says it has also applied for a payment service bank license, which will allow it “offer a broader and deeper range of financial services.”

The license comes after reforms by Nigeria’s central bank last October permitting telecoms operators to get mobile money and banking licenses in a bid to boost financial inclusion and facilitate the long-held ambition for a cashless society.

As already seen in several African countries, the real-life application of mobile money among unbanked populations ranges from quick, seamless fund transfers to facilitating payments and boosting small businesses. In Ghana, the service has been adopted for investing as well with MTN’s selling shares for its landmark IPO mainly through mobile money. The West African country has recently become the fastest-growing mobile money market in Africa, with registered accounts increasing six-fold between 2012 and 2017.

The Nigerian reforms now allow telecoms operators like MTN attempt to tap into the promise of mobile money to offer similar services locally. As Africa’s most populous nation as well being home to a vast population of unbanked adults, Nigeria remains an attractive prospect given the success of mobile money services in other parts of the continent.

At the end of last year, there were nearly 400 million registered mobile money accounts—nearly half of the global total—across sub-Saharan Africa with nearly 90% of users in East and West Africa. In Ghana, Kenya and Zimbabwe, over 60% of adults have mobile money accounts.

Compared to standalone startups who have to build marketing and distribution infrastructure through a network of agents from scratch, mobile money services owned by telecoms companies have the in-built advantage of offering their services to an existing user base of millions of subscribers. Indeed, the continent’s biggest mobile money players are all owned by telecoms operators.

In MTN’s case, its longstanding status as Nigeria’s most dominant telecoms operator means it will have a pool of 67 million users to offer its services. And there’s room for significant upside in the near future too with Nigeria predicted to add 31 million mobile subscribers by 2025.

The license is part of South African-owned MTN’s delicate balancing act in Nigeria. It has a tumultuous history of billion-dollar fines and lawsuits in its largest market. Most recently, the company faced allegations of illegally repatriating $8.1 billion in profits and owing $2 billion in taxes. In 2016, it reached a $1.7 billion settlement with Nigeria’s government after a protracted SIM card dispute and an initial $5.2 billion fine.

By Yomi Kazeem 

Quartz