Nigeria’s largest mobile operator MTN is to spend as much as US$1.6 billion this year to boost capacity and quality on its mobile network. Speaking to Punch, a leading Nigerian newspaper, MTN Nigeria’s Wale Goodluck said that the annual investments of US$1.5 billion in the network over the last four years has meant the operator had exceeded rollout expectations, including building a transmission network that has compensated for the lack of national infrastructure. “By sub-Sahara Africa’s standard, we have achieved the highest network availability of over 90 percent,” he said.

According to Wireless Intelligence data, MTN leads the Nigerian mobile market with 21.2 million subscribers by the end of 2008. However, competition in the market – the largest in Africa in terms of connections – is increasing. Telecompaper reported this week that Gicell Wireless, a new operator that has financial backing from the World Bank, aims to roll-out a new CDMA2000 mobile network using 450MHz spectrum next month and is aiming to offer the country’s lowest ever call tariffs. Last week, South Africa’s largest fixed-line operator Telkom acquired the remaining 25 percent of its Nigerian subsidiary Multi-Links for US$130 million, and is planning to launch mobile services. Etisalat launched services in Nigeria in October 2008 and Vodafone has also been linked with a move into the market.