Challenges in the Era of Globalization - iaabd

Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference © 2011 IAABD
The study revealed that majority (83%, n=121) of the MTN customers are the youth falling within 18-
35years which coincide with the age-range where they are either students or just out of school seeking
employment (Table 1). In addition, most of them are either unemployed or earning below $150 per
month. This provides a huge opportunity to MTN to provide services that are affordable in order to meet
the needs of this large energetic customer base.
Table 1. Age and Monthly Income of Respondents
Item N % Monthly Income (USD $) N %
Age bracket Not employed 53 35.6
18-25yrs 77 52.7 Below 150 31 21.2
26-35yrs 45 30.8 150-399 34 23.3
36-45yrs 17 11.6 400-800 22 15.1
>46yrs 7 4.8 >800 7 4.8
Total 146 100 Total 146 100
Patronage of Services
Other than making phone calls, Fig. 1 illustrates the core services provided by MTN and the customers’
patronage. Thirty-two percent (n = 47) subscribe to the other non-core services of MTN, whiles 54% (n =
79) do not subscribe to any of the services. The low subscriber base of these services could be attributed
to the fact that most of the respondents find the services to be “expensive” or “difficult to access”. This is
obvious, giving the unemployed status to low income level of $150 per month for majority of MTN’s
subscriber base (Table 1).
Fig 1: Services Provided by MTN and patronized by Customers (N = 146)
Customer Perception of Service Quality
The views of customers concerning MTN’s services are shown in Fig. 2. Whereas 49% (n = 72) of
customers perceive MTN’s services in a positive light with comment such as: “are very good”, “make
transactions easier”, “make it easier to reach out to friends, family and associates”, “are useful”, a similar
figure of 46% (n = 67) had no comment on the services provided by MTN. Apparently they could not
comment as majority did not subscribe to the service (54%).
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