Airtel Africa has announced that it has completed the acquisition of an additional 10MHz block of spectrum, to help it boost 4G coverage in Nigeria.
Airtel Africa confirmed that it paid a total of $94 million for the 10MHz block of spectrum in the 900MHz band, purchased from Intercellular Nigeria Limited.
The additional spectrum will help Airtel Africa ramp up its 4G services in Africa’s largest telecoms market.
“Data is a key pillar of our growth strategy, driven by increasing 4G networks and supported by the increased affordability and increasing penetration of smartphones,” Raghunath Mandava, CEO of Airtel Africa, said of the acquisition in November.
“With an overall smartphone penetration of more than 35 per cent and data consumption growing by 92 per cent in the six months’ period ended 30 September 2019, Nigeria presents a significant growth opportunity in data. The acquisition of this spectrum will enable us to further deliver on this growth opportunity and continue to offer our Nigerian customers an enhanced user experience.”
In Nigeria, Airtel Africa is the third largest mobile network operator, with more than 33 million subscribers.
Airtel has over 100 million customers in total, spread across Africa and is present in 14 countries.
Last year, the company raised a reported $750 million in additional funding at its IPO event in London.