South Africa-based wireless group MTN says it plans to see its customer base in Iran pass the six million mark by the end of this year. The firm has a 49% stake in MTN Irancell which launched last October and had attracted just over a million subscribers by late March. Irancell is signing up between 15,000 and 20,000 new customers a day. MTN Group chief executive Phuthuma Nhleko says he expects the Iranian business to sign up 46 million customers by 2011, beating MTN’s earlier estimate of 31 million by 2015.
MTN Irancell is one of three national GSM operators in Iran; the market is currently dominated by state operator TCI, while Irancell is battling for second place with another privately owned firm, Taliya. Irancell currently has networks covering 26 cities: Tehran, Mash’had, Tabriz, Oroumiyeh, Sari, Maraqeh, Shiraz, Qom, Kermanshah, Ardebil, Hamedan, Germi, Meshkinshahr, Khorramabad, Sarab, Bojnourd, Amol, Aligoudarz, Miandoab, Qa’emshahr, Sabzevar, Qouchan, Neyshbour, Fredows, Neka and Fereydounkenar. The MTN Group has 40 million subscribers in 21 countries; it hopes to attract an additional 16 million new customers by end-2007.