Size, board jeopardise MTN on home turf
The sheer size of MTN could be its biggest stumbling block, writes Ron Derby
The scenes are nowhere near reminiscent of Winston Churchill's war room, but there's definitely smoke in the headquarters of South Africa's telecoms giants as they plot a way forward in a technological age that is burning up every piece of real estate that they once considered impenetrable. While the newspaper world has long been reeling from the effects of disruptive provocateurs, it's reassuring to know that there are other realms in a state of flux. Just where the next growth node might be for the one-time investment darlings is anyone's guess. Whether the answer lies in a leap to financial services or content is anyone's guess. An insurance executive says the firm he works for is constantly talking to one or other telecoms player about potential deals - but they don't quite know what to do with their toys. And there's no more curious a case than that of MTN. If you had attended results presentations in the early years of MTN's success, you'd realise just how different its world ...
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