MTN Group announced today that it has established its first FibreCo in Zambia as part of its Ambition 2025 strategy to spin off fibre business.
In March, MTN announced plans to demerge its Fibre and FinTech business and to bring third party investors to unlock value trapped in the company.
MTN has 85 000 km of fibre network across the African continent and intends to seek partners to expand its footprint.
The company will need about $500 million investment over the medium term to invest in the expansion of its fibre business into an open-access network.
“GlobalConnect’s fibre development and separation projects are also
progressing well with the first FibreCo established in Zambia,” said Ralph Mupita, MTN Group CEO.
“We have rolled out more than 2 000 km of additional fibre in Zambia, and concluded new cross-border links in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Uganda.
“Through a combination of growing subsea cables and the largest fibre network on the continent, we are building scale infrastructure assets to meet explosive growth in data
traffic and an accelerating digital economy in Africa.”
Also read: CEO Ralph Mupita Wants MTN To Tap Into Opportunities in Africa
Mupita plans to “own the home” in Africa by 2025 by having 10 million broadband users.
Mupita is also planning to replicate across the African markets; its similar roaming partnerships with Cell C.
He wants to use MTN’s vast network across the continent to support rivals who are number three or four by enabling them to use its infrastructure through roaming deals.