MTN raises FY subscriber guidance after strong Q3

Africa and Middle East mobile operator MTN announced an increase in its subscriber base to 182.7 million at the end of September, up 3.8 percent from three months earlier.

In its home market South Africa, the subscriber base improved 4.1 percent quarter-on-quarter to 24.50 million, led by growth in the prepaid segment, where it grew customer numbers 4.2 percent. Its biggest market Nigeria added 2.5 million new customers, for a total 45.64 million. The solid performance over the past quarter led MTN to increase guidance for net additions for 2012 from 21.25 million to 23.70 million.

The operator said it introduced competitive products and services in response to aggressive price declines in the market during the quarter, while continuing its focus on data growth and improved network roll-out. For the rest of this year, the group said that acceleration of its network expansion will be a key priority across the majority of its operations, as network quality remains a key enabler for the business.