African operators Liquid Telecom and MTN (JSE: MTN) have entered into a partnership which they contend will create the largest fixed and wireless footprint on the continent.
The agreement covers wholesale, carrier-to-carrier, high-speed broadband, enterprise and fixed data services, the companies said in a joint statement. It enables them to access each other’s networks and thereby expand into new markets.
Nic Rudnick, CEO of Mauritius-based wholesaler Liquid Telecom, said the deal will help the company meet growing demand from businesses across West Africa for its broadband services.
“We have a well-deserved presence in East, Central and Southern Africa for providing quality broadband to businesses,” he said. “We are laying 100km of new fibre every week but have decided to partner for the time being in West Africa so that we can immediately meet demand from businesses there.”
South Africa-based mobile operator MTN, for its part, said the agreement will further its aim of helping enterprise customers expand across the continent and beyond.
“We will be able to leverage each other’s products and services to improve our offerings to carrier and enterprise customers in Africa, the Middle East and Europe,” said Elia Tsouros, head of global sales at MTN’s enterprise business unit.
The partnership will see Liquid Telecom, currently present in nine countries, expand into 13 additional ones: Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Brazzaville, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan and Swaziland.
MTN, present in 22 countries, will now be able to service multinational enterprise customers in Burundi, DRC, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Liquid Telecom, controlled by African telco Econet Wireless, provides fibre optic, satellite and international carrier services to mobile network operators, ISPs, financial organisations and other businesses. It says it has built the largest single fibre network in Africa, spanning some 20,000km.
MTN claims to have 231 million subscribers across its 22 markets, primarily in Africa and the Middle East.
Earlier this month, South Africa’s Competition Commission blocked MTN’s planned mobile network sharing and roaming deal with incumbent Telkom, saying it would entrench an already duopolistic market structure.