Airtel’s Nigerian unit hopes tie-up with ZTE will help it narrow gap with MTN
Airtel CEO Segun Ogunsanya says the company wants to lead the industry in terms of new customer acquisition
Lagos — Bharti Airtel’s Nigeria unit said a partnership with China’s ZTE to provide 4G high-speed broadband will see it add subscribers and narrow the gap with market leader MTN in Africa’s most populous country. The Indian company is seeking "to lead the industry in terms of new customer acquisition," CEO Segun Ogunsanya said in an interview in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub. Airtel would start to move subscribers to the 4G service from 3G "in the next three to four months", he said. Airtel was Nigeria’s third-largest wireless operator with 34.7-million customers at the end of March, according to the most recent data published by the Nigerian Communications Commission. That is 43% less than Johannesburg-based MTN’s 60.4-million, although Airtel has recorded the highest quarter-on-quarter growth in the past two periods. Local operator Globacom is number two in the West African nation with 37.3-million subscribers. Airtel has invested more than $1.5bn in its Nigerian network in the ...
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