The largest African mobile operator, MTN Group Ltd, is expected to spend as much as US $8 billion on acquisitions in order to increase its spending in networks that limited its earnings. The company is seeking to expand into Southeast Asia and the Middle East as well as Africa and would seek to acquire assets in the US $4 billion range.

These plans were confirmed by MTN from its Johannesburg offices through an email sent to Reuters. MTN further explained its activities in 2012, spending SArand 30.1 billion or US $3.37 billion because of technology upgrades in its network. The upgrades would help handle greater data traffic as consumers use mobile phones to access the Internet. Overall, MTN's capital spending rose 70% in 2012 alone.

In another move, MTN is also in the running for a license in Myanmar as its first step into the Southeast Asia markets. This was confirmed by MTN CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa.