Despite what MTN executives describe as a 'challenging year', the mobile operator's Group Results for the period ending 31 December 2014 show growth in data revenue and in subscribers.

According to the results, Group subscribers increased by 7,5% to 223,4 million with revenue up by 6,4% to R146,2 billion in the year. Data revenue increased by 33,2% to R27 317 million and the EBITDA margin increased 1,5 percentage points to 44,8%.

In a presentation of its results in Johannesburg on 04 March, MTN noted the impact of aggressive price competition, increased regulatory requirements and increased competition on its performance.

MTN also spoke of the challenge of Nigeria's regulatory environment, referencing the ban in SIM sales in March last year. "We were unable to be competitive ... for most of 2014 we were not in the position to compete effectively," said MTN Group President and CEO Sifiso Dabengwa.

In the West African country MTN grew its subscriber base by 5.5% and increased its total subscribers to 59,9 million.

The Company also saw strong growth in Cameroon, Ghana, Rwanda and Zambia, with mobile money viewed as a key market driver in many of the markets it serves in Africa.

Dabengwa told an audience of investors, shareholders and other stakeholders that in addition to network reinforcement and LTE, the focus will be on cost structures to "ensure that we are competitive, agile in terms of what we put out to the market... data is an important part..."

"We want to try to make sure all operations deliver as per our intentions... from a Nigeria point of view, we need to get a better performance in terms of revenue...we are past the regulatory issues."