MTN group recently disclosed its financial results for the year ended 31st December 2016. And we must say the results are mixed while they reflect a shift in what we’ve traditionally known as telecommunication networks.
At group level there was an increase the subscriber base of 3.3% to 240.4 million and the same increase is reflected in the group revenue by 0.4% to R146.8 Billion (UGX 40.3 Trillion) thanks to an increase in data revenue by 16.7% to R39.5 Billion (UGX 10.8 Trillion).
Increase in Data Traffic
Data traffic through the telco increased significantly to 143% while voice traffic declined by 1.7%. The group has also had its revenue bolstered by an increased uptake of its digital services that have seen a strong growth of 44.2% supported by MTN’s lifestyle and mobile financial services.
We recorded strong growth of 44,2% in digital services revenue, supported by our lifestyle & mobile financial service offerings. #MTNResults pic.twitter.com/Vbqv7cKFht
— MTN Group (@MTNGroup) March 2, 2017
MTN Uganda.
Mobile Money growth registered
MTN Uganda is no different except that its earnings were boosted by Mobile Money that contributed a significant 20% of the total revenue.
“In Uganda #MTNMoMo is almost 20% of revenue.” @gunter_engling #MTNResults @mtnug
— MTN Group (@MTNGroup) March 2, 2017
While the total subscriber base for MTN Uganda increased by 18.1% to now 10.5 from an estimated 9 million a year earlier, thanks to the sim card registration debacle in 2013 with UCC. MTN has been able to reconnect the lost subscriber base which has driven back its numbers to the previous record levels if not more.
#MTN Uganda increased its subscriber base by 18,1% to 10,5 million through reconnection of previously disconnected subscribers #MTNResults.
— MTN Uganda (@mtnug) March 2, 2017
Voice traffic takes a dip
It wasn’t all rosy for the past year for big yellow’s owing to the decline in overall revenue by 1.9%. This has been attributed to declining incoming and outgoing voice traffic not forgetting the disconnection of some of its subscribers when it failed to beat the UCC set deadline.
#MTN Uganda Total revenue declined by 1,9%*, led lower by a decrease in outgoing and incoming voice revenue & SIM registration. #MTNResults. pic.twitter.com/D19KUhNN3B
— MTN Uganda (@mtnug) March 2, 2017
On the flipside, the MoKash uptake has also bolstered MTN Uganda’s financials thanks for subscribers’ interest in the service, the total mobile money subscriber base increased by 12.4% and stands at 4.1 million customers
#MTNUG Mobile Money active customers increased 12,4% to 4,1m, as a result mainly of the introduction of savings & loan products. #MTNResults
— MTN Uganda (@mtnug) March 2, 2017
Our predictions taking Shape
One interesting observation here is the decline in voice revenue and an update in data services. This we predicted sometime last year given the onus set by over-the-top (OTT) services like WhatsApp, Facebook, Viber, Skype, Imo among others, that now allow VoIP calls whose charges accrue to one’s data account which is usually a fraction of what one would spend had they chosen the traditional circuit-switched phone calls over 2G & 3G networks.
