South African telecommunications firm MTN is planning to improve its facilities nationwide investing about $1.3 billion for 2013. This is in a resolve to ensure that it maintains its capacity and leadership in the Nigerian mobile technology market.

This investment is strategically positioned to give its 45 million subscribers more valuable and cutting edge services, even as it plans to gain more leverage in the mobile market through various services planned ahead.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Company Mr Brett Goschen believes the investment is a worthwhile and incisive one which would go a long way to assert the dominance of the network through its vast and upgraded facilities.

He said this while commissioning a new customer experience centre tagged ‘Yello City’.

His words: “We have invested $1.3 billion on the network in 2012 alone. This covers the extensive network optimisation and swap out exercise, which we embarked on in June 2012 and which is now at an advanced stage. And by 2013, we hope to double the investment by putting in another$1.3bn for infrastructure expansion.”

Infrastructure and up to date facilities have been of utmost priority to the South African group as it realizes how stiff the competition is with the other Telcos like Airtel, Globacom, Etisalat, and Visafone.

2012 witnessed some slight challenges for the network in ensuring customers enjoy access to good network and value added services. At the Enugu NCC parliament the customers complained majorly about the MTN network service delivery but with the decision to sustain the investment level in Infrastructure, the Company is definitely poised to show market leadership.

Mr. Akin Braithwaite, the Customer Relations Executive, MTN Nigeria, speaking on the Yello City Initiative said “The Initiative is much larger than our services and retail outlets giving more value to customers”.

The CEO Mr. Goschens went unto apologize to Nigerians for the poor service they experienced at several occasions from the Network which affected service level expectation. He assured its subscribers in the Nation that MTN will step up its game and improve its network quality.