MTN Group has partnered with social media giant Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, for an initiative aimed at improving the quality of voice and video calls on apps like WhatsApp.
According to a statement, the two companies will, through the collaboration, deliver optimisations to MTN’s “application-aware networks” and the “network-aware applications” providing the voice and video call services across 12 of MTN’s operating markets.
“Since Mobile World Congress 2024, MTN and Meta teams have been collaborating to identify key areas for improvement and implement targeted network optimisations that enhance the interaction between mobile networks and real-time calling applications while maintaining efficient traffic delivery,” MTN Group said in the statement.
“By harnessing data analytics and conducting comprehensive testing, they have successfully created and deployed solutions that significantly enhance the quality of experience for mobile users.”
MTN said Nigeria – its largest market by subscriber numbers and revenue – was the first country where these network optimisations were implemented. The company reported improvements of up to 50% in voice and video-call quality as a result.
The telecommunications provider hasn’t said which markets will be targeted next in its partnership with Meta.
VideoSMS
Meanwhile, MTN South Africa’s digital advertising arm, MTN Ads, has launched a new service that allows businesses to send video content into a subscribers’ SMS inboxes.
Dubbed VideoSMS, the new service allows up to 2MB of video to be sent using a traditional SMS without the need for the more complex protocols such as MMS standard or the newer RCS standard built into Google Messages on Android devices.
Read: MTN says competition in SA telecoms is intensifying
“While SMS, RCS and MMS are all similar communications tools in the same space, VideoSMS is a completely new messaging technology that enhances a standard SMS to include multimedia files,” said Jason Probert, GM of digital services at MTN South Africa, in a statement on Monday.
Probert expects the capabilities offered by VideoSMS to upend direct marketing. The file size permitted by the standard (2MB) is enough for a 30-second video ad, and graphics and gifs can also be used to enhance text-based messaging.
These enhancements will allow businesses to provide additional content about their products and services such as how-to guides and trailers for games and movies.
Other use cases for VideoSMS include digital broadsheets of special offers by retailers, car feature clips by motoring companies and holiday destination teasers by travel businesses.
Pricing for the service was not given, but Probert said the cost of VideoSMS will be cheaper than MMS or RCS and more accessible, too. VideoSMS is supported by MTN’s addressable audience and user identification services toolkit which the company built in partnership with Novatiq. The platform helps business with data about users and their devices for decision making. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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