Tigo, Airtel combine operations in Ghana

Tigo, Airtel combine operations in Ghana

Tigo Ghana Limited and Airtel Ghana Limited have agreed to combine their operations in Ghana, signalling an aggressive competition in the telecom industry in the months ahead.

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The parent companies of the two subsidiaries, Millicom International Cellular S.A. and Bharti Airtel Limited announced on Friday that they have entered into an agreement to combine their operations in the country.

As per the agreement, Millicom and Airtel would have equal ownership and governance rights in the combined entity.

In a joint press statement, it was explained both companies have equal ownership and governance rights in the combined entity and that the joint entity would be a strong number two operator with nearly 10 million customers, including over 5.6 million data customers.

MTN Ghana is currently leading with about 52 per cent share of the market in Ghana.

Tigo and Airtel's combination would aim at delivering superior voice and data services over a wider network footprint with a combined network to cover more than 80 per cent of Ghana’s population with high speed data, providing the widest 3G coverage across the country

The statement said revenues of close to $300 million would be expected, making it one of the largest communications companies in Ghana.

The transaction is however subject to obtaining approvals from the relevant authorities in Ghana and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

By integrating the two networks, the combined business is expected to provide Ghanaian customers with a major boost in both rural and urban network coverage – in turn translating into better voice quality, high speed data services and reinforced network stability and resilience.

With the combined fibre footprint and increased data centres, enterprise customers including both large corporations and SMEs, would have access to a diverse portfolio of world class solutions.

Mobile Financial Services is also expected to be greatly enhanced with combined agent networks and platforms.

Mr Mohamed Dabbour, Executive Vice President of Millicom Africa, commenting on the merger said: “In a highly fragmented telecom market, this deal represents a major milestone for our business in Ghana."

He said the combination of Tigo and Airtel will create an operator that will be able to offer Ghanaian consumers and businesses a state of the art network with high speed mobile data coverage.

"This transaction underlines confidence in the Ghanaian economy, and provides the opportunity to develop nationwide digital infrastructure and services in Ghana,” he said.

On his part, Mr Raghunath Mandava, MD and CEO of Airtel Africa, said: “The agreement highlights our commitment to the Ghana market and our customers. The coming together of the two entities will benefit customers, who can now enjoy an extensive combined network and a wider range of affordable and innovative products and services."

"It will further strengthen our position in the market and offer huge benefits arising out of synergies in operations, resulting in better experience for the customers.”

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