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MTN GlobalConnect accelerates fibre, mobility services push

By , ITWeb
Africa , South Africa , 13 Mar 2023
MTN GlobalConnect CEO Frédéric Schepens.
MTN GlobalConnect CEO Frédéric Schepens.

MTN GlobalConnect (MTN GC) is aggressively driving fibre ambitions on the continent to scale fixed connectivity and wholesale mobility services.

The digital wholesale and infrastructure services company, an operating company in the MTN Group, has presence in five African countries, namely Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Zambia and Kenya.

Today, MTN Group reported full year 2022 performance, saying in the period, connecting and expanding scale infrastructure assets across Africa remained a key priority for MTN GC.

Led by CEO Frédéric Schepens, MTN GC rolled out 5 157km of new fibre in 2022, bringing its total inventory of proprietary fibre to over 105 157km as at 31 December 2022.

Ralph Mupita, MTN Group president and CEO, comments: "MTN GC invested significantly in subsea cable systems such as 2Africa, Google Equiano and ACE. MTN GC landed the 45 000km 2Africa cable in South Africa.

“This landing is the first in a series of six across five countries: South Africa, Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Ghana. The 2Africa cable east connection will go live during 2023 to bring seamless connectivity across three continents.”

To further diversify international connectivity, Mupita says, MTN GC has partnered with Google for fibre spectrum on the Equiano cable system.

He explains: “This cable spans 15 000km and will boost West African capacity and resilience. Our fibre investments enable an increase in data capacity penetration across Africa that meets the growing demand for international connectivity. These investments will serve future demands on our ICT, fintech and digital applications.”

In addition, he says, MTN GC has also formed a strategic pan-African connectivity partnership with Microsoft, which will see the company provide “access to large-scale infrastructure services that will build capacity for Microsoft to drive digital transformation and enable a connected African continent.”

In the year ended December, Mupita says, MTN GC signed fixed external infrastructure deals valued at US$90.8 million.

External revenue grew by 19.3% year-on-year to US$344.4 million, with mobility revenue up by 19.1%.

“The wholesale mobility services segment delivered a solid performance during the year. International voice revenue grew 9.6% year-on-year on the back of growth in voice minutes from Hubbing and Cloud Collaboration.

“Messaging revenue was up 22.7% year-on-year, driven by increased mission-critical SMSs processed on our platform to authenticate mobile users,” says Mupita.

“We also launched LTE roaming services during the year, including Voice over LTE (VoLTE) between MTN GC and AT&T Inc in the USA, with roaming traffic levels now above pre-pandemic levels.”

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