MTN Boosts its Network in Home-Market South Africa
- MTN invests in batteries, generators, and renewable energy
- African phone firm invests 10.6 billion rand in South Africa
An MTN Group store inside a shopping mall in Johannesburg.
Photographer: Michele Spatari/BloombergMTN Group Ltd. pushed its network availability to 95% in its home-market South Africa, as it invested billions of rand to upgrade sites with batteries, generators, renewable energy and enhanced security to overcome power cuts in the country.
Africa’s biggest wireless carrier by customers said on Tuesday it invested 10.6 billion rand ($577 million) in capital expenditure and leases year-to-date in South Africa, plus another 1.9 billion rand to add spectrum in its biggest market. The spending was necessary to lift network capacity that’s been challenged by South Africa’s subdued economic growth, site vandalization and the country’s deepening energy crisis that can inflict daily electricity cuts, known locally as load shedding.