MTN Group says it is teaming up with Meta in a bold move to supercharge voice and video call quality on WhatsApp, with Nigeria taking centre stage in a digital transformation sweeping across 12 African markets.
Africa’s largest telecoms operator and owners of MTN Nigeria, is partnering with the tech giant behind Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram to deliver smoother, clearer and more reliable real-time calling experiences for millions of users across the continent.
Since the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024, engineers from MTN and Meta have been collaborating behind the scenes — deploying smart data analytics, network testing, and technical fine-tuning — to bridge the performance gap between mobile networks and the data-hungry demands of modern communication apps, according to the telecoms company.
The partnership is focusing on what the tech companies call “application-aware networks and network-aware applications” — essentially making sure MTN’s infrastructure and WhatsApp’s software speak the same digital language for a glitch-free connection.
Nigeria is now the first MTN market to roll out the fruits of this alliance, and the results are already ringing loud and clear.
“We’re seeing up to 50% improvements in key performance indicators, translating directly into a better user experience for MTN Nigeria mobile users,” Yahaya Ibrahim, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at MTN Nigeria says.
“This implementation,” the MTN Nigeria CTO says, “further demonstrates our commitment to enhancing our customers’ digital experience. We’re pleased with the remarkable improvement in our real-time communication services, reflecting our commitment to innovative customer solutions.”
The partnership is focusing on what the tech companies call “application-aware networks and network-aware applications” — essentially making sure MTN’s infrastructure and WhatsApp’s software speak the same digital language for a glitch-free connection.
For Meta, this is more than just tweaking code.
Diego Marí, Meta’s Head of Network Ecosystems Engineering, says that “the collaboration allows us to deploy advanced solutions for an unparalleled real-time experience in Nigeria and showcases our dedication to elevating service quality and improving user experience, while striving for continued efficiency in traffic delivery.”
MTN, with over 290 million subscribers across Africa, is betting big on quality — and Nigeria, with its tech-savvy population and booming digital ecosystem, is leading the charge.
With plans to scale these upgrades to 11 more MTN markets, the partnership between MTN and Meta is promising to set a new standard for how Africa calls, chats and connects — right from the palm of a hand.
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