By Amechi Ogbonna
Nigeria’s leading telecommunications firm, MTN Nigeria Communications at the weekend said it would invest more than N600billion in network infrastructure expansion over the next three years to improve its services across the country.
Chairman of MTN Nigeria Communications, Dr Ernest Ndukwe, who disclosed this during the company’s 20th anniversary celebration on Sunday in Lagos said the company would continue to identify with Nigerians and the Federal Government development aspiration through its Corporate Social Responsiblity initiatives among other imperatives.
MTN had launched out its services in Nigeria on August 8, 2001, and has sofar connected about 69 million people in various communities across the country since inception.
Ndukwe said that MTN was also “committed to specifically expanding its rural connectivity to reach areas that were underserved” in the six geo-political of the country.
“We plan to connect approximately 1000 rural communities to our network this year with an additional 2000 communities in 2022,” the MTN chairman said.
Ndukwe who expressed optimism on the future of Nigeria’s digital economy said the Company was looking forward to building it together with all stakeholders.
In his remarks at the auspicious event, MTN Chief Executive Officer, Mr Karl Toriola, restated the Company’s planned participation in the restoration and rehabilitation of the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway through the Federal Government’s Road Infrastructure Tax Credit ((RITC) Scheme. “This is a response to government’s drive towards public-private partnership in the rehabilitation of critical road infrastructure in Nigeria”, Toriola said
“We’ve initiated plans for the construction of a purpose-built, state-of-the-art head office in Lagos. “We will also be selling down 14 per cent of MTN shares to over two million Nigerian retail investors,” Toriola said.
He expressed appreciation to the government for its vision in liberalising the telecommunications sector and the robust framework developed by the regulators.