The N892 billion is outside other revenues, including those from digital services and fintech operations.

Airtel, however, pointed out that the results would have been better but for the cash scarcity experienced in Nigeria in the first quarter of this year, which slowed down its revenue in the period.

According to Airtel, 50 percent of total recharges by Nigerians are cash-based, which was why its revenue was impacted by the recent cash crunch.

While highlighting the impact of data on its results, Airtel disclosed that its 2023 revenue was boosted by both data customer base growth of 17.3 percent and data ARPU growth of 9.9 percent.JAMB Result

Commenting on Airtel Nigeria data push and consumption, Airtel Africa CEO, Segun Ogunsanya said: “Over the last year, we have enhanced our 4G network with ample data network capacity to provide high-speed data to our customers with almost 100 percent of our sites now on4G and data capacity increase of 27.5 percent.

“This has contributed to 4G data customer growth of 27.6 percent. Data usage per customer increased by 24.8 per cent-facilitating continued data ARPU growth. Data usage per customer reached 5 GB per customer per month from 4 GB per customer per month in the previous period.

“In Q4’23, 4G data usage per customer increased to 9.5 GB per month (up by 46.5%) from 6.5 GB per customer per month in the prior period. 4G data usage now contributes to 80.4 percent of total data usage on our network.”

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Speaking on improving the firm’s service offerings, Airtel said it would continue to push quality data offerings by expanding its 4G coverage, while the soon-to-be-launched 5G will enhance the experience for its customers.

“The acquisition of 5G spectrum will underpin our growth strategy by enabling the launch of higher speed connectivity to enhance customer service and accelerate digitalization for consumers, enterprises, and the public sector.JAMB Portal

“The key benefits of 5G will include higher speeds, lower latency, significant network capacity as well as an improved user experience. Further, the deployment of 5G will accelerate the availability and efficiency of fixed wireless access products across the country, contributing toward Airtel Nigeria’s progress in meeting the National Broadband Plan targets.” Ogunsanya said.NYSC Portal

The Airtel Africa CEO said over the last year, the operating environment has been challenging in many ways, “yet our strategic focus on providing reliable, affordable, and accessible services across our markets has enabled us to sustain our top-line growth momentum. The resilience of our underlying EBITDA margins has shown the effectiveness of our operating model, despite significant inflationary and foreign exchange pressures. Strong customer and ARPU growth over the year demonstrates that demand for our services remains very strong and give us the confidence to continue investing to support our future growth potential. Over the year, we invested $500 million on an additional spectrum, including 5G, across many of our OpCoswhich, combined with our capex, will underpin our growth ambitions. Despite this investment, and driven by a disciplined capital allocation policy, our balance sheet remains strong and has been further de-risked over the last year by the prepayment of $450 million HoldCo debt in July last year.”

Check: JAMB Result

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