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MTN losing out in market share war [ITWeb](ITWeb Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Cell C is eating away at the MTN and Vodacom market share, says Ovum analyst Richard Hurst. MTN, SA's second-largest operator, is the biggest loser when it comes to market share, a look at Vodacom's latest figures shows. BMI-TechKnowledge analyst Brian Neilson notes, based on Vodacom's latest subscriber gains – giving it 32.5 million subscriber identity modules (SIMs) – the operator currently has 43.5% of the market, a mostly flat growth rate, assuming continued although conservative growth by SA's two smallest operators. Neilson adds, assuming Cell C has added around 1.5 million subscribers in the past three months – half as much as the company has reported in the quarter to April – it would have gained 5% market share, taking it to its targeted 20%. Cell C CEO Jose dos Santos has said its total base was 16.6 million at the end of April. Telkom Mobile, SA's newest network kid on the block, currently has around 2.5% of the market, with 1.8 million subscribers, according to Neilson's calculations. However, this operator's growth of market share has been flat, he notes. Losing ground The biggest shift, according to Neilson, has been at MTN SA, which has lost share to Cell C and would currently have 33% of the market, with 24.7 million subscribers. "The conclusion, based on the past year, would be that MTN gave up most of the 5% to Cell C." In the three months to March, MTN saw its local subscriber base fall by 824 768 to 24.9 million, mostly because it disconnected 973 064 subscribers that were not generating revenue, although they were active. Ovum analyst Richard Hurst says MTN has really been going backwards, and while Vodacom has been gaining in the number of SIMs on its network, it has only been gaining market share slightly. "Cell C is slowly but surely eating away at the larger giants." World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck adds it is becoming an increasingly tough market for network operators. (c) 2014 ITWeb Limited. All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |