MTN expands consultancy agreement with AIRCOM

AIRCOM will provide network planning tools and consultancy to all the regional operators in the MTN Group, which provides mobile telecom services to a combined subscriber base of over 54 million across Africa and the Middle East (as at 30 September 2007).

AIRCOM has an established relationship as a supplier to MTN; MTN South Africa already uses AIRCOM's market-leading ASSET network planning tool, and has done so for the last 12 years.

The new group-wide agreement standardises pricing and also outlines delivery and service level agreements for all AIRCOM tools and services.

The phenomenal growth of mobile telecoms in Africa – particularly with the advent of pre-paid cellular services across the continent – places new pressures and demands upon operators' existing network infrastructure, which require radically new solutions that go above and beyond conventional planning and management techniques.

“MTN is committed to providing the best services and customer experience to our subscribers, wherever they are. But as our business develops, so too do the demands placed on our networks. With AIRCOM's help, we can maximise our network resources to deliver high quality, innovative and affordable mobile services and grow our business into new and exciting markets,” says MTN Group's Chief Technical and Information Officer, Karel Pienaar.

Commenting on the deal, AIRCOM CEO Margaret Rice-Jones said, “We are immensely proud of our long-standing relationship with the MTN Group. With this new group-wide agreement in place, all of the MTN territories can now benefit from AIRCOM's unsurpassed engineering and management expertise to boost the performance of their network and continue to provide services and opportunities to their customers across Africa.”