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MTN boosts capital spending in Nigeria after fine settlement
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- MTN said it will raise its capital spending in Nigeria to 11.1 billion rand (N144.8 billion) in 2016, from 5 billion rand (N65.2 billion) in 2015.
MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile operator, said it will boost capital expenditure in Nigeria during the 2016 fiscal year.
According to a presentation posted on its website, MTN said it will raise its capital spending in Nigeria to 11.1 billion rand (N144.8 billion) in 2016, from 5 billion rand (N65.2 billion) in 2015.
The move comes days after MTN agreed to pay N330 billion over three years to settle a regulatory fine imposed on its Nigerian unit as penalty for failing to disconnect five million unregistered SIM cards.
Having complied with the SIM disconnection directive, MTN said it lost 2 percent market share in Nigeria between the fourth quarter 2015 and the first quarter of 2016. Consequently, MTN said its market share dropped from 41 percent in Q4 2015 to 39 percent in Q1 2016.
The increased capital spending in 2016/2017 is expected to deliver 6,173 3G sites, 5,076 LTE sites, and 850 new fibre-to-site deployments amongst other infrastructure projects.
With its expanded infrastructure, MTN said its 3G-population coverage will grow from 67.23 percent currently to 90 percent by the end of 2017.
The Johannesburg-based company said it expects improved competitiveness in Nigeria as well as increased revenues resulting from reconnecting subscribers and the launch of new services starting from May 2016.
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