MTC cashes in on mobile boom

MTC Namibia once again celebrated a thriving year in telecommunications in Namibia. Announcing the company’s financial results for the 2013 financial year, the company’s managing director Miguel Geraldes confirmed a 13.3% rise in revenues, from N$1.6 billion in 2012 to N$1.8 million last year. The company’s good fortunes, he said, were largely credited to a continued growth in its subscriber base, as well as the launch of a number of successful new products and services. “During the period under review, MTC added a total of 176 281 new active SIM connections, passing through the 2.2 million mark, the equivalent of Namibia’s population,” Geraldes said at an event held at the Hilton Windhoek last Friday. At present, the company claims it has 128% of the country’s population covered, thanks to the current multi-device phenomenon that has one user using multiple devices, including smartphones and tablets. “Nevertheless, the statistics represent that active SIM connections are now increasing at single digit increments, showing the level of the market at the moment,” he said. Geraldes cited Namibians’ increased disposable income, thanks to a good performing economy, as another contributing factor to the company’s success. He said MTC was able to capture “a valuable slice” of this added disposable income. Besides generating greater revenue, the company’s bottom line also benefited from good control over its operating expenses, with its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation growing by 17.2% Geraldes said the company had reinvested the equivalent of 101% of its net profit after tax, while maintaining its tradition of paying over 100% of net profit after tax to government and its Portuguese shareholders. Relating some of the highlights for the company over the past year, the Geraldes cited a new customer support centre in Windhoek, the development of MTC vending machines at its mobile homes, and overwhelming acceptance by subscribers of its new ‘Super Aweh’ product, as among the most important. He added that the company had already begun preparing for what he said would be a huge rise in data demand over the next three to five years, with investment into advanced and higher capacity networks already implemented. This, he said, includes LED technology – even though manufacturers were still slacking in bringing the technology to Namibia. In 2013, Geraldes said, the company for the first time saw data make up a quarter of its revenue, a fact he said proves the ongoing migration from voice to data-driven communication. WINDHOEK DENVER ISAACS