MTN eyes ambitious 30% market share of home connectivity across Africa

The MTN Group has set its sights on becoming the leader of home connectivity in the next three to five years.

The telecom operator, which has reach across 19 markets on the African continent, says it wants to roll out fixed-wireless access and fibre-to-the-home to at least 20 million homes in the near-term. This would give it a substantial share of the market, roughly 30%.

Currently, MTN has a footprint of 2.8 million homes connected on its network, excluding mobile broadband. This represents a 6% penetration of the market across Africa.

The expansion plans are part of the group’s Ambition 2030 strategy, which was again presented to investors at the company’s capital markets day on Wednesday.

“Home is the next big structural opportunity,” CEO Ralph Mupita said, at MTN’s headquarters in Johannesburg.

Within the markets MTN operates in, it says there are between 70 million and 90 million homes without high-speed internet.

“We see workloads moving more and more to the home,” he added, punting a shift in the landscape.

MTN says it will focus on South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda to scale up its reach almost 8 times, as household digitisation has grown over the past few years.

It says it will use benchmarks from more advanced markets, including Asia, to help build a framework that can be replicated in new markets.

Source: MTN

“To go from 2.8 to 20 million would need an operational engine that’s working in peak performance, and that’s what we’re putting in place to deliver that.”

Press play

Mupita added it’s not enough to provide homes and mobile subscribers with data. The operator is now making a play for video streaming services as part of an aggressive push into online media.

“We need to launch services, on top of that connectivity,” he said, confirming the group’s expansion into digital entertainment with the rollout of MTN One TV.

The new entertainment proposition is “designed to make digital video content more accessible, relevant, and flexible for customers across African markets”.

The announcement comes at a time when streaming platforms navigate a tough environment.

Earlier this year, Canal+ SA moved to discontinue the loss-making Showmax streaming service developed by South African pay-TV operator MultiChoice Group, which the French firm bought last year.

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Over the last four years, since relaunching Showmax in a venture with NBCUniversal, the business reported trading losses of over R10 billion. Much of this was being spent on content, with subscriber numbers and revenue not growing quickly enough.

Even so, MTN says it’s upbeat about the streaming platform’s prospects.

Viewing models for MTN One TV are expected to vary by market and can include free-to-view content, advertising-funded experiences, pay-as-you-watch access, and subscription offerings.

Depending on local availability, customers may also be able to pay through airtime, Mobile Money, and other locally supported payment methods.

“Some of you have read headlines that we’re trying to compete with Netflix. That’s far from truth.”

“We see ourselves as very complementary, and we’re going into the part of the market that’s at a much lower price point but very focused on local content, bringing in African content creators and creating a platform for them to sell their products,” Mupita explained to investors.

Using South Africa and Zambia as a litmus test, the subscription cost for the streaming service could cost as little as R30.

In SA, this is below the price point for other video streaming platforms, including Netflix.

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