Johannesburg - Mobile network MTN [JSE:MTN] wants to emerge from a months-long strike and overtake Vodacom [JSE:VOD] to become South Africa’s number one telecoms company.
This is according to MTN South Africa’s new chief executive officer Mteto Nyati, who spoke to CNBC’s TechBusters television programme.
Nyati replaced Ahmad Farroukh as MTN SA CEO last month following a Communication Workers Union (CWU) strike that started in May but only ended in July this year. The strike called for higher pay for the likes of call centre workers.
Ahmad Farroukh was also CEO at MTN during a tough business period. Last week, MTN revealed in its interim report for the period ended June 2015 that its SA revenue fell 1.4% from to R18.8bn amid handset supply problems and the CWU strike.
Currently, MTN has 28.5 million subscribers which is shy of Vodacom’s 30 million users. But Nyati wants to grow MTN SA into the country’s biggest mobile network.
“We seem to be a number two who is comfortable being number two,” Nyati told TechBusters.
“And I’m like saying maybe we should actually change things; we should aspire to be number one.
“And let’s behave like a company that is hungry, that wants to be number one. So, that’s the next big thing: How do we grow our traditional business,” Nyati added.
Watch the interview below:
‘People problem’
Nyati further said that his job priorities include fixing MTN’s “people problem”.
“When I look at our company here in South Africa there are a couple of things that we need to do and to do right,” said Nyati.
“Our people on strike: That is not a good thing. You need your people engaged and focused on delivering a service to our customers. So, I would say that we have got a people problem and this problem is something that is one of my job priorities,” Nyati added.
From enterprise to consumer
Nyati has risen quickly within MTN’s ranks.
He previously headed up Microsoft’s South Africa operations before joining MTN in October 2014 as the mobile network’s group chief enterprise officer.
And in less than a year, he came to hold MTN SA’s top job.
In his interview with TechBusters, though, Nyati still spoke of the importance of MTN’s enterprise or business-to-business unit.
“The enterprise unit of MTN is going to be one of the key foundations for our future in terms of growth,” Nyati said.
What are your views on MTN's ambitions to be number one in SA? Tell us by clicking here.