(Business in Cameroon) - Nexttel, Local subsidiary of Vietnamese telecoms group Viettel, reached nearly 5 million subscribers after 4 years of activity (since September 2014). This was revealed in the company’s statement posted August 15 announcing a partnership with Israeli firm Gilat Telecom to deploy 4G network.

With its subscriber base, which is rapidly growing, Cameroon's 3rd mobile operator is now close to reaching MTN (6.6 million) and Orange (5.58 million), which launched activities in the country almost 15 years earlier.

These updated figures imply that MTN subscriber base has dropped, since the company reported over 10 million subscribers 5 years ago. Also, both MTN and Orange’s subscriber base could drop further over the impending launch of 4G network by Nexttel.

According to 2017-2021 projections made by Ovum, a British analysis firm, Nexttel and Orange will capture significant market shares from MTN Cameroon. Let’s note that according to the financial statements, Orange led the market in H1 2018.

Brice R. Mbodiam