2023

finalist Excellence in
Customer Experience
CASE STUDY

MTN transforms
from telco to
digital platform
company

Sponsored by: Author:

Teresa Cottam
Contributing analyst
 overview
South African operator MTN is transforming from a leading
telecoms group to a pan-African provider of connectivity
solutions and digital platforms. At the core of its strategy is
its fintech and financial services business, as well as a new
and compelling digital service experience. Not only is this
consistent with MTN’s Ambition 2025 strategy to deliver
“leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress”, but it’s also a
major growth opportunity for the operator itself. To deliver
against its ambitions, MTN has implemented its PACE strategy
– Platform, Agile, Connectivity, Experience – with the aim of
delivering a market-leading customer experience across all its
operating companies.

MTN at a glance:
Subscribers Service offerings Business challenge

292 million subscribers Voice, data, fintech, digital, Building on the reputation
enterprise, wholesale and of its pan-African mobile
140 million active data users API services and fixed networks, MTN
61 million active MoMo users is seeking new sources of
value for its business as well
21.7 million Ayoba users as to support the digital
development of Africa
19 countries

Products and Solution Benefits

assets used
MTN is in the process of 21 autonomous network use
TM Forum assets: transforming from a telecoms cases delivered across 5 opcos
Autonomous Networks group into a platform
R2.7bn ($140 million) of
Framework company that provides
efficiencies in 2022
ubiquitous, premium
Autonomous Network Levels
connectivity services as well South Africa – +5% boost
Evaluation Methodology
as customer experience to satisfaction, MTTR rates
Open Digital Architecture excellence. This involves reduced from 210 mins to 117
diversifying into new areas mins, postpaid users up 12%
Vendor assets:
such as fintech and advanced in 2023
Huawei SmartCare,
enterprise applications Nigeria – network availability
RuralStar and Autin
up from 97.4% to 99%
Ghana – MTTD decreased
from days to less than 30
mins, Ayoba usage up 23%
in 2023

© TM Forum 2024. The entire contents of this publication are protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The views and opinions expressed in this white paper are
provided in the contributors’ personal capacities and may not reflect the views of their companies. While all care has been taken in preparation of this paper, no
responsibility for any loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from any action as a result of any material in this publication can be accepted by the editors,
contributors or publisher.

2
MTN’s vision for an African
connected life
MTN is the largest mobile telecoms group in Africa, providing voice,
data and financial technology services to more than 280 million
customers across 19 markets. MTN’s Ambition 2025 strategy involves
the operator providing digital solutions that support Africa’s economic
prosperity. This strategy aligns MTN with the overall growth prospects
in the African digital market, with the company leveraging its brand to
attract new customers as they come online. With almost 100 million
net new customers forecast in sub-Saharan Africa alone between
2021 and 2025, there is still substantial organic growth in MTN’s
operating markets.

MTN aims to add even more value to its business by diversifying its
offering and extending beyond connectivity to become the biggest
platform business in Africa. Based on the quality and reach of its
existing fixed and mobile networks across the consumer, enterprise
and wholesale segments, MTN is currently developing five core
platforms – fintech, network-as-a-service (NaaS), enterprise, digital
services including its all-in-one application Ayoba, and its API
marketplace Chenosis.

MTN’s five core platforms

B2B services B2B/C services B2C services

Enterprise NaaS Chenosis Fintech Digital

Scaling ICT Enabling MTN’s API Supporting MTN’s Ayoba
provisioning partners to buy marketplace fintech and app integrates
and going and consume which exposes financial and supports
beyond basic network as a telecoms and services to messaging,
Platform value-adding partner capa- drive financial money transfer,
services.
layer asset bilities to inclusion (e.g. gaming, music
Supporting developers so MoMo, aYo) etc. to create
African they can create digital
businesses to new products experiences
grow and and business
create jobs models

Network
layer
MTN mobile and fixed-line networks

TM Forum, 2024 (source: MTN)

Of these, the fintech platform is arguably the most strategic, as it
supports the goals of financial inclusion and economic growth. MTN’s
offerings in this area are already substantial. In the first half of 2023,
the number of active mobile money (MoMo) customers reached 61
million, with 1.5 million merchants accepting MoMo payments, and
transaction values rising 61.6% compared to the same period last year
to $135 billion.

MTN aims to bring the benefits of a modern connected life

throughout Africa. To this end the company has introduced new
and compelling digital services to drive economic growth across
the African continent. In October 2022, MTN Group’s technology
team refreshed their strategy and operating model, and launched
the PACE framework to accelerate the execution of Ambition 2025.

3
framework to accelerate
transformation
MTN operates in highly competitive largely prepaid markets, often with multi-SIM customers making real-
time decisions about which network to put their data over. A high-quality network experience is therefore
essential to MTN’s commercial performance.

MTN has focused on enhancing network experience through the application of AI and automation, such
that in October 2022 research firm Analytico revealed MTN South Africa’s customer satisfaction ratings
were almost 15 percentage points higher than those of its nearest rival, Vodacom (87.3% versus 72.6%).
But while many operating markets are performing well individually, MTN wants to ensure that best practice
is shared across the group, in order that all opcos benefit. The result of this is PACE – a four-segment
framework from MTN Group Technology focused on delivering against Ambition 2025 and aimed at
accelerating MTN’s transformation into a platform company.

PACE is intended to boost MTN’s agility, promote rapid innovation and enable it to become more
customer-centric, as well as unlocking new revenue streams. To facilitate this, MTN is investing in
technologies including cloud, AI, big data, open APIs and network virtualization.

PACE accelerates MTN’s transformation into a platform company

Platforms, Ecosystems Agile operating model Connectivity & monetisation Platforms, Ecosystems
& Services Agility in ways of working, of infrastructure & Services
Enable revenue growth governance and Ubiquitous best-in-class connectivity Deliver superior user experience
leveraging on Platform play and organisational culture across hybrid networks and optimisation/ through connectivity, platforms
associated digital ecosystem monetisation of infrastructure and ecosystems play

TM Forum, 2024 (source: MTN)

The PACE strategy comprises 15 platform, operational, link and experience actions, which are further
broken down into 45 specific projects. These projects are aimed at:

• Leading network performance. Providing consistent network and agile data center resources via a
mix of digital infrastructure and digital operations and maintenance projects.

• Leading experience. Delivering a great experience is vital to MTN’s strategy. To do this it groups
together users based on their experience profiles, uses network and service operating center (NOC
& SOC) synergy to proactively manage experience problems and complaints, and resolves problems
through scenario-based planning.

• Leading business. MTN intends to grow its 4G/5G user base and invest in WTTx and fixed-wireless
access (FWA). WTTx is a 4G and 4.5G-based broadband access solution, which uses wireless to
provide fiber-like broadband access to households. Other growth areas include continuing to grow its
fintech offers and its Ayoba – the operator’s all-in-one app – user base.

• Talent transformation. MTN says it intends to revamp its culture and employee value proposition. It
recently set up a software engineering center of excellence, for example, and is taking this opportunity
to diversify its workforce by increasing the number of women it employs in software engineering roles.
Forty per cent of its workforce is currently female and it aims to increase this to 50% by 2030.

4
automation, self-service and AI
Delivering an excellent all- Another key component of TX
round experience – Total is the network experience being
Experience (TX) – is the main delivered, which depends not only
motivation and foundation of on network availability, but also on
its transformation. TX focuses the real-time service experience of
on designing and delivering each individual customer. MTN is
exceptional experiences to optimizing this by breaking down
customers, employees and and monitoring network NPS
partners through digital across a range of criteria, bringing
autonomy and putting together NOC and SOC and
customers and partners in using big data insights to target
control of their own service its investments, in order to boost
experience. This has led MTN to network satisfaction.
invest in self-service platforms
(including the myMTN app), Its market-leading customer
chatbots and interactive portals satisfaction rating is also
to give customers the tools supported by its use of a unified
needed to effortlessly manage platform for service management,
their experience. which helps improve the service
experience for each customer
“When we design new products while also ensuring greater
at MTN, we really start with the operational efficiency and
consumer in the middle and effectiveness. Likewise, it is
make sure that we understand increasing the level of network
the needs of the customer, automation and deploying AI
the frustrations and what they to drive premium, personalized
want to do with a connectivity experiences and enhanced
solution,” says Bertus Van Der customer journeys. Ultimately, its
Vyver, General Manager, MTN goal is to deliver an automated,
Residential. zero touch and AI-powered
experience across all its opcos.

We believe it’s time to

shift operators’ focus from
efficiency improvement to
experience improvement to
enable business success and
provide better services for
end users.”

Mohamad Kiwan,
Group O&M Officer and
WECA CTIO, MTN

5
what’s next?

In the first phase of its transformation, MTN deployed digital analysis and intelligent O&M platforms in
seven countries, including South Africa and Ghana, enabling it to use big data mining. The second phase
focused on platform-based digital operation, improving O&M efficiency, embedding the digital platform
into its processes, thereby significantly improving the time to demarcate and resolve faults. The operator is
now working towards providing worldclass customer experience.

MTN will shift from focusing on efficiency and experience improvements towards leveraging these
for business success and adding value. As such, it continues to invest in its networks – both in future
technologies such as 5G and ultimately 6G, and also to increase its footprint and density in rural areas. One
of its goals, for example, is to reach 95% rural broadband coverage by 2025, and to this end it signed an
agreement with Huawei at Mobile World Congress 2023 to extend deployment of RuralStar, a connectivity
solution providing online access to remote and rural communities.

MTN is also continuously adding new digital services to diversify its offerings and unlock new value. In
the enterprise sector, for example, it is moving from providing pure connectivity into advanced services
such as IoT and cybersecurity. It’s also investing heavily in Chenosis – its API marketplace platform – and
continues to invest in its core fintech business, which remains its flagship product. On the consumer side it
aims to increase the number of MoMo users from 69 million to 100 million by 2025, and is launching more
personalized and flexible offers. SuperFlex, for example, is a new offer launched in September 2023 that
aims to revolutionize mobile plans in Africa. MTN SuperFlex is an online, SIM-only, rolling monthly plan that
promises simplicity, customization and flexibility to customers.

MTN has also partnered with Huawei to help it decarbonize its networks, including radio access network
sites, transport networks, storage and data centers. Network decarbonization will be achieved through the
use of energy-efficient technologies, as well as the application of innovative green solutions.

MTN’s three-step transformation

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3

2017-2019 2020-2022 2023-ongoing
Focus: deploying digital Focus: improving digital Focus: user experience
platforms O&M efficiency in SOC for specific services,
and self-care Ayoba uptake,
Deployed: Huawei Autin high-value customer
across 6 opcos Deployed: began using experience and usage
Autin for Auto TT &
Deployed: Huawei Work Order, as well as
SmartCare in South auto diagnosis
Africa, Ghana and Benin
Adopted: TM Forum
AN Framework

TM Forum, 2024 (source: MTN)

6
key learning points
• Evolving into a platform company. MTN is combining convergent,
high-quality network assets, computing platforms and smart
applications to evolve strategically into a platform business. To do
so requires it to have highly automated, efficient and intelligent
operations – with the application of AI and big data to make
better decisions and to deliver smarter and more personalized
customer outcomes.

• Network experience is key. Despite operating in challenging

markets where network experience is continually disrupted by load
shedding and vandalism, MTN understands that its future business
value depends heavily upon the network experience delivered.
That’s why network NPS (satisfaction with the network experience)
is regarded as such an important metric by the company.

• Great TX is essential. In addition to customer experience, MTN

is focusing on employee and partner experience. Making cultural
changes and driving change internally is challenging – although
vital to success – and is an element of digital transformation that’s
frequently overlooked.

• Partnering for success. MTN believes that partnering will speed

up transformation, widen customer choice and bring essential
knowledge, expertise and new product offerings to the table.

© TM Forum 2024. The entire contents of this publication are protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The views and opinions expressed in this white paper are
provided in the contributors’ personal capacities and may not reflect the views of their companies. While all care has been taken in preparation of this paper, no
responsibility for any loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from any action as a result of any material in this publication can be accepted by the editors,
contributors or publisher.

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