To reduce costs while simultaneously expanding service coverage, MTN Group and Airtel Africa announced on Wednesday that they had reached an agreement to share mobile phone network infrastructure in Uganda and Nigeria.
Mobile operators in Africa are witnessing a persistent demand for digital and financial services, but network construction and maintenance are costly, particularly for fast 5G connections.
Ralph Mupita, the CEO of MTN Group, stated that “there are opportunities within regulatory frameworks for sharing resources to drive higher (operational) efficiencies and improve returns.”
According to Sunil Taldar, CEO of Airtel Africa, the deal will prevent costly infrastructure from being duplicated.
Laptops 1000Operators can increase network coverage more rapidly by sharing infrastructure, particularly in rural or sparsely populated areas where building separate networks may not be financially feasible.
“This engagement does not preclude the parties from collaborating with other operators in any respective market,” the companies said, adding that MTN and Airtel Africa will investigate a number of opportunities in other markets, such as Congo-Brazzaville, Rwanda, and Zambia, after agreements in Uganda and Nigeria are concluded.
The deals under consideration include commercial and technical agreements for sharing fiber infrastructure, radio access network sharing, which covers the majority of the cost in network deployment and operation, and, if necessary, the construction of fiber networks.
