Airtel Africa, listed pan-African Telco, announced an agreement between its subsidiary, Airtel Nigeria limited, and Intercellular Nigeria Limited to acquire additional spectrum to expand and strengthen its LTE network across Nigeria, the company said Thursday.
The acquisition which is subject to regulatory approval by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will add 10 MHz spectrum in the 900 MHZ band in Nigeria and the $70m consideration excludes fees to be paid to NCC.
“Nigeria presents a significant growth opportunity in data,” Airtel said. “The acquisition of this spectrum will enable us to further deliver on this growth opportunity and continue to offer our Nigerian customers enhanced user experience.”
Nigeria is Airtel Africa’s largest market and the telco in six months to September 2019 grew revenue by 23 percent with data driving the growth.
Data revenue surged 76 percent on the back of accelerated roll-out of 4G network, with an increase in data customer base of 20.8 percent and an Average Revenue per User growth of 43 percent.
During the period, 4G data usage increased by almost 20 times, the company said.
“Data is a key pillar of our growth strategy, driven by increasing 4G networks and supported by the increased affordability and increasing penetration of smartphones,” said Raghunath Mandava, CEO of Airtel Africa.
Mandava noted an overall smartphone penetration of more than 35 per cent and data consumption growing by 92 per cent in the six months’ period ended 30 September, 2019.
Airtel operates across 14 African countries, Airtel Africa and is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
Industry data from telecommunications sector regulator show that as of September 2019, Airtel is the third-largest operator in the GSM space, with a market share of 27.34 percent or 48.91 million subscribers, slightly trailing Glo’s 27.51 percent.
Culled from Business Day
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