MTN Ghana subscriber base up 4% but ARPU falls

Telecommunications company, MTN Ghana has recorded an increase in its subscriber base in the country from 8,721,000 in December 2010 to 9,070,000 at the end of first quarter 2011.

According to the subscriber database released by the MTN Group in South Africa, last week, the subscriber base increased by 4% and it attributed that to competitive offers in the Ghanaian market.

“Ghana also increased its subscriber base by 4% to 9,070,000 maintaining its market share as competition intensified…This was due to competitive offers in the market, improved churn management as well as the introduction of attractive data packages”, the release said.

According to the release, MTN Ghana contributed 14% to the Group’s overall subscriber base which has now hit 150 million.

The West, East and Central African region also increased its subscriber base by 3.4% for the quarter. And this the MTN Group attributed to strong growth in Nigeria and Ghana which contributed 60% and 14% respectively.

But with all these achievement, the Ghanaian subsidiary witnessed a decline in its Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) mainly due to currency movements.

“Ghana’s ARPU declined by 5% to $7 mainly due to the impact of currency movements as local currency ARPU’s increased marginally,” it said.

ARPU is a measure used primarily by consumer communications and networking companies, defined as the total revenue divided by the number of subscribers.

ARPU is the monthly weighted average revenue per subscriber. Revenue includes interconnect fees and excludes connection fees and visitor roaming revenue, and this is divided by the weighted average subscriber base over the period.

By Ekow Quandzie