ATC Nigeria has been revealed as the new preferred tower company, which will lease around 2,500 network sites to MTN.

MTN Nigeria notified the Nigerian Exchange of the plan, stating that the lease for about 2, 500 network sites, for which IHS Nigeria currently provides tower services, is set to expire in 2024 and 2025.

The company said in accordance with MTN Nigeria's procurement policy, which attempts to ensure a transparent and competitive bidding procedure, the company has now selected ATC to provide services for these sites.

It said: “This will further diversify our site portfolio and align with our proactive initiatives to renegotiate tower agreements, focusing on ensuring terms that will help cushion the business from the volatility in our trading environment. ATC will take over the provision of tower services for the affected sites from 2025.”

Of the 19 markets within which MTN Group operates, Nigeria contributes the lion’s share of group revenue.

In the current reporting period, MTN Nigeria’s mobile subscribers increased by 4.0% to 77.1 million, active data users surged by 11.5% to 41 million