MTN Group announced its agreement to invest approximately R540 million to buy 49 percent stake in Iranian Net, fixed broadband provider in Iran.

MTN Group will also be making further investments of approximately R3.4 billion in both equity and loans to facilitate Iranian Net meeting its rollout targets over the next five years.

Iranian Net has a national license for the construction and operation of an optical data transmission network and fibre optic access network across Iran — with an initial focus on eight of the main cities.

MTN has 237 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia.