MTN licenses Opera Mini in 21 markets

Promises faster mobile browsing, localised links and content in Africa and the Middle East.

MTN is targeting its 150m mobile subscribers in these regions with the deal, which offers a special co-branded version of the Opera Mini mobile browser.

This has been tweaked to give one-click access to MTN content portals via the home page.

Christian de Faria, MTN Group’s chief commercial officer, said: “By offering faster access to websites and easy entry to MTN portals, MTN subscribers can reach the content they want, with less frustration and less expense. With just one click, customers have music, news, games, and information on MTN products and services at their fingertips."

Opera Mini claims to shrink web data by up to 90 per cent before delivering it to the phone for faster and lower-cost page loading.

It currently has 115 million monthly users around the world, and is available on over 3000 different phone models including basic feature phones.