MTN subscriber base soars

SOUTH Africa-based cellular network service provider, Mobile Telephone Networks (MTN) believes its recently concluded Home Location Register will be in line with growth in its subscriber based and rising demand for its services.

“The Home Location Register is MTN mobile network’s main database of subscriber information and is essential for call switching, control and processing. The switch to a register with additional capacity is a computer-based move necessitated by the growth of MTN’s customer base,” said the company.

The company said the initiative was one of the projects it had invested in to expand its coverage.

“Another step in the continued expansion of the MTN network is the migration of subscribers. This four-week process commenced from September when the first batch of 3 million MTN customers will be transferred from one Home Location Register (HLR) to another with more capacity,” an official from MTN said.

MTN, a 2010 FIFA World Cup sponsor and has operations in several African countries, is based in South Africa where it is one of three cellular network services provider, the other being Vodacom and Cell C.

Cutthroat competition characterises the South African mobile network industry where last year, cellphone number portability, which allows users to move from one network to another but retaining their number, was introduced.