MTC revenue surges to N$3.23 billion, with N$540 million from data services

Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) has received revenue of more than N$540 million from data for the year ended 30 September 2024.

This is for both prepaid and postpaid services, according to the company’s latest annual results.

A total of N$2.51 billion (77.7%) of its revenue came from prepaid and postpaid services.

This brought the total revenue made by MTC to N$3.23 billion, an increase from the N$3.04 billion recorded last year, the results show.

The largest contributor to this revenue was subscriptions, at N$1.62 billion, for both prepaid and postpaid services.

SMSes contributed the lowest amount, of N$81 million, while voice calls contributed N$329 million.

MTC managing director Licky Erastus says although the company faced challenges with the compulsory SIM registration process, it has continued to maintain its market share.

He was speaking during the release of the results on Monday.

“We maintained our position as Namibia’s mobile telecommunications market leader, with an estimated market share of 82%,” said Erastus.

In 2024, the company focused on diversifying its revenue by expanding its digital services and launching MTC Maris, he added.

“In 2025, we will be focusing on expanding our Maris mobile financial services and establishing a dedicated business unit and revenue line for digital services,” said Erastus.

He noted that the results are driven by strategic investments in network infrastructure, data-enhanced product and service innovation, and a customer-centric focus.

Additionally, MTC declared a dividend of N$623.5 million, a decrease from N$663 million in 2023.

The company has 350 agreements with roaming partners across 152 countries, and 51 of these networks allow for prepaid roaming.

Currently, MTC has 2.03 million people using its prepaid services and the average revenue per user (ARPU) is N$83.

This means, on average, the company earns N$83 from each of its 2.034 million subscribers.

“Prepaid ARPU grew by 13.6% because of subscribers that signed up for the subscription-based products and the demand for data,” he said.

This came at a cost of N$15.4 million for marketing, consultation, management, system support and personnel.

The annual report showed that the total number of active subscribers increased from 2.17 million in 2023 to 2.224 million in 2024.

Additionally, net profit after tax decreased from N$796.9 million to N$772.9 million.

The group’s capital expenditure increased from N$587.6 million in 2023 to N$715.4 million.

Erastus said this is due to investments in major projects.

During the release of the annual results, the company also noted its capacity to handle any competition that may result from Starlink starting operations in Namibia.

MTC’s chief commercial officer Octivius Kahiya said the company has over the years invested in infrastructure and can handle competition.

“We can reassure our investors and key stakeholders that we have made a lot of investments that will mitigate any risk that may come,” said Kahiya.

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

It delivers broadband internet beamed down from a network of roughly 5 500 satellites that SpaceX started launching in 2019.

Earlier this month, the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia ordered Starlink to stop operations in Namibia, because it was operating without the required telecommunications licence.