Johannesburg - Cellular operator Vodacom has invested R9.5 billion in capital expenditure in the year to December to stay ahead of its peers in the industry.
The group, which is owned by British-based Vodafone, capitalised on the MTN woes in Nigeria to plough more money into its network operations in South Africa.
Read: Vodacom grows base of subscribers
Vodacom head of corporate affairs Tshepo Ramodibe said despite the slowdown in the global economy, Vodacom had invested billions to consolidate its position.
“For the six months ended September 30, Vodacom invested R6.2bn in its networks across all operations,” Ramodibe said. “Group capital expenditure for the nine months ended December 31 amounted to R9.5bn across all operations to expand our network coverage and increase data speeds to secure network leadership.”
MTN was fined $5.2bn (R83.4bn) by the Nigerian Communications Commission last year for its failure to disconnect 5 million unregistered SIM cards in the country.
At the time, the share price of Africa’s leading network operator, with more than 230 million subscribers, traded at R245 a share on the JSE.
But it has since dropped to R126 after tanking dangerously to R118.
Yesterday MTN shares added as much as 3.2 percent, before closing 1.36 percent up at R127.37.
Although the fine was subsequently reduced to $3.9bn, MTN had solicited the services of former US attorney-general Eric Holder to help challenge the fine in courts.
Ramodibe could not disclose the exact figure that Vodacom intended to spend in the future, but was upbeat about the positive prospects the company had in store for its customers.
“As we outlined at our interim results in November, we plan to accelerate growth in fixed-line services, broadband and fibre to homes and businesses. We will also invest in other new growth areas by building the right capability to ensure we sustain growth into the next year.”
Vodacom reported 8.7 percent growth in group revenue to R21.7bn for the quarter.
Group data revenue also rose 27.5 percent to R5.52bn.
The group said active data customers rose 14.5 percent to 30.3 million. Local service revenue grew 7.2 percent to R12.7bn and international service revenue increased 15.2 percent to R4.58bn.
“The network investment over the last two years has paid off in the increased demand for data service. Traffic has increased, the network is much faster,” Ramodibe said.
“We plan to stay ahead by delivering a truly differentiated customer experience built on best connectivity and service. We will also focus on ensuring access to more affordable data devices.”
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