MTN Loses 21,237 Subscribers

MTN CEO - Michael Ikpoki

About 21,237 MTN Ghana subscribers have had their SIM cards deactivated after the deadline for SIM registration on 1 March.

According to MTN Group's first quarter report ending March 2012, the figure represents two percent of MTN Ghana's subscriber base which currently stands at about 10,394,000.

According to the regulator, the National Communications Authority (NCA), a total of 433,246 unregistered SIM cards were deactivated at the close of the registration process.

The deactivation was as a result of subscriber's failure to met the deadline for the national directive for registration of all SIM cards.

In the report, MTN Ghana contributed 6.1 per cent to the Group subscribers, increasing its subscribers 2.3 percent for the quarter and maintaining market share in a competitive environment.

This, it said 'was due to attractive promotions as well as the implementation of a regional structure to better manage sales and marketing.'

The local currency Average Revenue per User (ARPU) ARPU increased by 3.4 percent mainly because of revised value propositions.

ARPU is the monthly weighted average revenue per subscriber. Revenue includes interconnect fees and excludes connection fees and visitor roaming revenue and this is divided by the weighted average subscriber base over the period.

MTN Group recorded 170,573,000 subscribers at 31 March 2012. This is a 3. 7 percent increase for the quarter from 164,501,000 subscribers recorded at 31 December 2011.

The Group delivered a satisfactory performance notwithstanding intense competition in key markets.

Consistent with the new management structure, this commentary includes detailed analysis of each of the five larger operations – MTN South Africa, MTN Nigeria, MTN Irancell, MTN Ghana and MTN Syria and highlights from the rest of the operations.

The rest of MTN's operations contributed 30.5 percent to Group subscribers, representing an increase in users of 3.5 percent.

The report noted that network quality and capacity remains a key imperative for the Group. Several operators continued to aggressively launch network and achieved satisfactory progress for the quarter.

By Esther Awuah