News Highlights:
- MTN Group and Airtel Africa have signed network-sharing agreements in Uganda and Nigeria to expand digital and financial inclusion while improving cost efficiency.
- The telecom giants are exploring similar partnerships in other markets, aiming to enhance service quality, optimize infrastructure, and drive operational efficiencies across Africa.
Committed to expanding digital and financial inclusion across Africa, MTN Group and Airtel Africa have signed agreements to share network infrastructure in Uganda and Nigeria, while adhering to local regulatory and statutory requirements.
Digital TimesNG reports that these partnerships aim to enhance network cost efficiency, extend coverage, and deliver improved mobile services to millions, especially in remote and rural areas where access to modern connectivity remains limited.
MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita said operators on the continent were seeing sustained demand for data services: “At MTN, we are driven by the vision of delivering digital solutions that drive Africa’s progress. We continue to see strong structural demand for digital and financial services across our markets.
“To meet this demand, we continue to invest in coverage and capacity to ensure high-quality connectivity for our customers. That said, there are opportunities within regulatory frameworks for sharing resources to drive higher efficiencies and improve returns.”
Airtel Africa Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar said: “As we compete fiercely in the market on the strength of our brand, services, and offerings, we are building common infrastructure, within the permissible regulatory framework, to provide a more robust and extensive digital highway to drive digital and financial inclusion at the same time avoiding duplication of expensive infrastructure to drive operational efficiencies and benefits for our customers.”
The initiative is part of a growing global trend toward network sharing. By collaborating, telecoms operators can explore innovative and pro-competitive solutions to improve service quality while managing costs more effectively. The sharing of infrastructure has the potential to enable the delivery of world-class, reliable mobile services to more and more customers across Africa.
Following the conclusion of agreements in Uganda and Nigeria, MTN and Airtel Africa are exploring various opportunities in other markets, including Congo-Brazzaville, Rwanda and Zambia.
Among the types of agreements considered are RAN sharing and those aimed at establishing commercial and technical agreements for fibre infrastructure sharing and, if necessary, the construction of fibre networks.
MTN Group and Airtel Africa are dedicated to working with other mobile operators within the countries in which they have a presence to achieve the advantages of network sharing.
Throughout this process, the parties will continue to function as independent market entities and will compete freely in shared markets. This engagement does not preclude the parties from collaborating with other operators in any respective market.
