Bharti to challenge MTN Uganda dominance?

Bharti Airtel has signed an agreement to buy rival Warid Telecom Uganda, in a move that will increase its customer base in the country by 60%.

The deal with Warid, the third largest operator in Uganda, will add 2.8 million customers to take its total user base in the country to 7.4 million, Bharti said in a statement on Tuesday (24 April).

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Reuters reported.

In March, MTN said its subscriber base in Uganda had reached 7.7 million, giving the group a 52.5% market share, only marginally up from 52% in 2011.

Uganda has an approximate population of 35 million people.

For the year ended December 2012, MTN Uganda recorded revenue of R3.29 billion (+16,2%), and Ebitda of R1.76 billion.

The group said it aims to add 800,000 new customers in Uganda in 2013.

MTN has a subscriber base exceeding 190 million in 22 countries across Africa and the Middle East.

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