MTN Nigeria reported revenue growth of 16 . 7 per cent to N 329. 2 bn in the first quarter ended March 31 , 2020 compared with N 282. 1 bn in the same period in 2019 .

The growth , according to the unaudited first quarter report of the company , was largely driven by voice and data revenues.

According to the telecom company , service revenue rose by 16 . 7 per cent year -on- year to N 328. 5 bn .

MTN said mobile subscribers increased by 4 . 2 million to 68 . 5 million , an increase of 7 . 4 per cent .

MTN Nigeria’ s Chief Executive Officer, Ferdi Moolman , said data revenue increased by 59 . 2 per cent due to growth in data traffic and the addition of 1 . 7 million active Internet subscribers to the network during the quarter .

Moolman stated, “ We recorded a solid performance in the first quarter , building on the growth momentum we achieved in Q4 2019 .

“ Service revenue was strong and rose by 16 . 7 per cent driven by voice and data revenue; 4 . 2 million subscribers were added to the network, driving voice revenue growth of 7 . 4 per cent .

“ We continued to deepen penetration with the further rollout of 4 G sites , increasing 4 G coverage to 48 per cent in Q1 2020 from 44 per cent as at year - end 2019 . ”

According to the MTN boss , there was a strong growth in digital which grew by 63 . 7 per cent and fintech revenue growth of 36 . 1 per cent .

He explained that the mobile money agent network of the company reached 178, 000, adding 70 , 000 agents during the quarter .

Moolman stated that the Value Added Tax, which was increased in February 2020 from five per cent to 7 . 5 per cent had adversely affected both revenue and costs.

He said towards the end of March , the company experienced changes in traffic patterns with a drop in voice traffic, which was partially offset by an increase in data traffic of the network.