Africa: Multinational Mobile Operators Increase Stake in Continent

Jonah Iboma examines the increasing penetration of Africa by global players and its impact on competition Mobile telephony sector in Africa has increasingly witnessed acquisitions. This had led to the emergence of multinational and pan-regional players dominating the sector and increasing their ability to compete in the market with other global players.

The latest is the purchase of controlling stake in Vmobile Nigeria by Celtel International and MTN’s acquisition of Investcom International, a telecoms group with operations in six African countries besides its coverage in the Middle East.

Also, Vodacom has operations in five countries- Mozambique, Madagascar, South Africa Tanzania and Lesotho. Though the number of countries it operates in may seem small compared to Celtel and MTN, Vodacom has not hidden its intention to find an entry into the Nigerian market after the failed acquisition bid for the then Econet Wireless Nigeria.

Obviously, the operations of these firms on the African continent have concentrated market share in the hands of a few players. With its entry into Nigeria, Celtel now has presence in 14 African countries, besides Sudan where it is called MTC. MTN also has presence in 21 African countries.

In terms of subscriber base, Celtel’s acquisition of Vmobile has increased its subscriber base from about 10m to well over 15m. These three firms – Celtel, Vodacom and MTN – with their combined subscriber number of about 72m users-account for over 55 per cent of Africa’s 125m mobile phone subscribers.

The Chief Executive Officer, of Celtel, Mr. Marten Pieters, in August gave indication of a continuation of its acquisition spree, saying during a tour of its operations in Tanzania that it would seek entry into more African countries soon. And with MTN maintaining its lead on the continent, one should certainly see further competition from both Vodacom and Celtel in the coming months and years. A major point of competition for these three operators is the Nigerian market as it has proven to be the preferred bride that each of them has sought how to either enter, or consolidate its position. With Celtel having joined MTN in Nigeria, Vodacom remains the biggest loser in this aspect as its failure to enter Nigeria has made it lose ground to MTN.

But while there is fear that the current situation could lead to lack of competition, these big players are actually beginning to use their might as a marketing tool. For instance, Celtel, according to Pieters, is considering establishing what he called, the One Network concept whereby any of its subscribers can use the same phone line across all its operations in Africa. This means that roaming would be available almost free of charge for its pre-paid subscribers.

The firm has done this in East Africa where Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have all been connected in the One Network arrangement.

Pieters said, “We are operating in these countries under the same brand-Celtel because we are working to build a real Pan-African mobile network. That means that we are also building a Pan-African brand and we have put a lot of energy in that, in the last two to three years.” MTN Nigeria has also introduced a billing arrangement that allows its subscribers to pay rates considerably less that others whenever calls are made to its network across the continent and in the Middle East.

The Chief Executive Officer, of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh, said the firm was also introducing a service whereby calls within any of the countries it is operating in, will attract lower charges compared to other networks.

Besides, there is a rash of valued added services that these operators are introducing to their subscribers. For instance, Vodacom and MTN were the first firms to introduce 3G services in South Africa. Similarly, in Nigeria both Celtel and MTN have also completed tests for 3G roll outs.

With current developments, it appears that more competition is still ahead in the days to come. Currently, the dominance of these multinational operators has not impacted negatively on the growth of individual operators on the continent.

The phenomenon appears to be global, as more multinationals have appeared in the mobile sector establishing dominance in the industry. Even Celtel’s presence in Africa has changed from it being a dominant player to being part of a bigger firm as it had been bought by MTC of Kuwait.

Source- http://allafrica.com