South Sudan a new operation for MTN
MTN has to create an entire new operation in South Sudan, after the country gained independence earlier this year.
The country has only just been allocated an international dialling code, says MTN CEO and president Sifiso Dabengwa.
South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July, after a referendum held in January. It was formally admitted into the African Union as its 54th member state, on Monday, after joining the organisation last month.
Dabengwa explains that, while the operator has base stations in the new country, it will need a new licence and will have to reconfigure its Sudanese network to be a separate operating entity.
MTN will also need to build a new home location register, the engine of the network, says Dabengwa. However, as the company has recently implemented a shared services strategy, South Sudan can be supported from Uganda, which will aid its procurement needs, he explains.
MTN still needs to finalise the issue of whether a new licence fee is payable, says Dabengwa. The company is in talks with the authority over this issue and believes it can be resolved, he adds.
However, Dabengwa says the licence issue must be resolved as soon as possible as MTN is continuing to invest in its network. The company does not want to have spent the money only to discover that the licence fee is “way out” of what the business plan can afford.
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