Telecommunications company MTN Benin has signed a five-year agreement with Canadian telecom infrastructure provider NuRAN Wireless to expand its network coverage in rural areas of the country. Unveiled on Tuesday, July 16, the collaboration involves the deployment of 200 telecom sites on the Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) business model.

The contract provides for renewal for an additional 5-year period at the end of the initial term. The project is expected to support 2G, 3G and 4G technologies with a variety of site categories to cover different population densities and coverage areas. NuRAN plans to retain ownership of the infrastructure after contract completion.

MTN Benin is the fifth subsidiary of MTN Group to sign a rural coverage agreement with NuRAN after MTN South Sudan, MTN Namibia, MTN Sudan and MTN Cote d’Ivoire. This new agreement brings to 2,350 the number of sites under contract between MTN and NuRAN. The two parties had even signed a ten-year framework agreement in July 2022.

The expansion of the network in rural areas should allow MTN Benin to reach thousands of additional people and increase its market share. The company will thus be able to strengthen its leading position in a context marked by increased competition from Moov Africa and the public mobile operator Celtiis.

According to data from the Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority (ARCEP), MTN had 9.38 million mobile subscribers for a market share of 54.27% as of March 31, 2024. Moov Africa and Celtiis held respective market shares of 35.14% and 10.59%. Furthermore, the mobile penetration rate was 67.3% as of December 31, 2023, compared to 55.4% for the Internet.

Source: Agency EcoFin