Despite widespread public complaints about rising data prices, particularly from MTN Ghana, the telecom giant has reported a substantial 55% year-on-year growth in data revenue for the first half of 2024.
While contributing to the company’s financial success, this growth also signifies increased data usage among consumers, providing them with more value for their money.
According to MTN Ghana’s half-year financial report, data revenue surged to GHS4.0 billion, more than double the amount from the same period in 2023.
This growth was driven by a 15.9% increase in active data subscribers and a 7.2% rise in megabytes consumed per active user per month, leading to a 24.2% increase in data traffic. Currently, MTN commands over 80% of the data market, contributing to the rise in data revenue’s share of total service revenue from 41.5% in H1 2023 to 49.0% in H1 2024.
MTN’s market dominance was declared significant market power (SMP) in June 2020, leading to regulatory measures to prevent it from having the lowest prices on the market.
However, these measures have yet to effectively curb MTN’s growth. The company’s data prices remain higher than its competitors, with GHS10 purchasing up to 718.91MB on MTN compared to 1GB on other networks.
Regarding the general subscriber base, MTN increased its market share by 0.6%, reaching 28.4 million subscribers.
MTN Ghana CEO Stephen Blewett attributed the company’s solid financial performance to its resilience and ability to provide essential connectivity solutions amidst challenging conditions.
This resilience is a testament to the company’s strength and commitment to its stakeholders.
In H1 2024, MTN Ghana’s overall service revenue grew by 31.2%, driven by data, Mobile Money (MoMo), and digital revenues.
MoMo revenue increased 44.8% to GHS1.9 billion, supported by a 16.2% rise in active users.
However, voice revenue decreased by 3.1% due to a shift to lower-priced plans, though voice usage increased by 13.7%.
MTN’s digital revenue grew by 59.4%, driven by video, gaming, and ring-back tones.
Despite inflationary pressures on expenses, the company reported a 31.3% increase in EBITDA to GHS4.6 billion.
MTN Ghana invested GHS2.8 billion in total capex during the half-year period, part of a US$1 billion investment plan over five years, to maintain network quality and expand coverage.
In contrast, other telcos still need to match this level of investment with Telecel and AT Ghana to realise their promised investments.
MTN’s significant profit growth and continued market dominance highlight the challenges faced by regulatory interventions and the need for increased investment from other telecom operators to balance the market and relieve the financial burden on consumers.
