Quarterly increase of five million subscribers is largest ever
Singapore, 2 August 2004 - Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) today said that the Group's aggregate number of mobile subscribers in the region increased by a record five million during the three months ended 30 June 2004 to cross the 52-million mark. This makes it the largest mobile base in Asia outside of China.
The combined mobile subscriber base of SingTel, SingTel Optus and the Group's four regional associates grew 40 per cent from about 37 million a year ago. On a proportionate basis, SingTel's subscriber base in the six markets - Australia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand - increased 41 per cent to 21 million during the same period.
SingTel's four Asian mobile associates - Advanced Info Service, Bharti, Globe and Telkomsel - all posted strong subscriber growth year-on-year, ranging from 18 per cent to more than 100 per cent. Their combined subscriber base grew 45 per cent to 45 million.
Telkomsel, the largest earnings contributor among the associates, maintained its market leadership position in Indonesia. This was strengthened by a US$620-million investment last year in network infrastructure and other facilities to expand its coverage areas.
Despite intense competition in the Thai mobile market, AIS maintained its leadership position with a 58 per cent market share due to its successful lifestyle segmentation strategy, with its extensive range of services, to meet the increasingly varied needs of its customers.
Globe has benefited from its successful introduction of over-the-air reloads in the fourth quarter of 2003. The award-winning service enables the sale of prepaid airtime in small denominations. This increases affordability and has driven higher growth rates in the Philippines. Bharti and Telkomsel have since also launched the service.
In India, Bharti continued to enjoy strong growth with a market share of about 21 per cent in the overall wireless market (GSM and digital mobile) or 26 per cent in the GSM market. It now offers mobile services in 16 out of 23 circles in India.
Singel Optus acquired 168,000 customers during the quarter, posting a 17 per cent year-on-year increase in subscribers, bringing its base to 5.7 million. The growth was achieved despite a mobile penetration of 80 per cent in Australia.
Optus remained focused on providing its customers with innovation and value in a competitive market. This was reflected in the popularity of services like Optus Zoo, the company's mobile information and entertainment portal. The number of Zoo registered customers increased during the quarter to more than 860,000.
In Singapore, SingTel maintained its subscriber base at more than 1.5 million. SingTel recently enhanced some of its price plans to offer mobile users even more value including all day free incoming calls, more bundled free SMS and lower monthly subscription fees. The new iOneValue plan, targeted at those who prefer free incoming calls over bundled free SMS, was also launched with a monthly subscription of less than S$20.
More details of the market and financial performance of the six mobile operations will be available when SingTel announces its results for the quarter ended 30 June 2004 on 5 August 2004.
At a glance
|
Aggregate Subscriber Base
(million) |
SingTel's Proportionate Subscriber Base
(million) |
|||||
|
Jun 04
|
Mar 04
|
Jun 03
|
Jun 04
|
Mar 04
|
Jun 03
|
|
| SingTel |
1.50
|
1.52
|
1.53
|
1.50
|
1.52
|
1.53
|
| Optus |
5.72
|
5.55
|
4.89
|
5.72
|
5.55
|
4.89
|
| SingTel's regional associates |
45.02
|
40.25
|
31.00
|
13.80
|
12.25
|
8.52
|
| Total |
52.24
|
47.32
|
37.42
|
21.02
|
19.32
|
14.94
|
About SingTel
SingTel, Asia's leading communications group, is reaping the benefits of an international expansion strategy which has been successfully developed over the last 15 years. With significant operations in Singapore and Australia (through wholly-owned subsidiary SingTel Optus), the Group provides a comprehensive portfolio of services that include voice and data services over fixed, wireless and Internet platforms.
SingTel Optus is a leading Australian integrated communications company. Since commencing operations in 1992, Optus has invested more than A$7 billion in the construction of fixed, mobile and satellite networks. Optus' mobile business unit has captured around one third of the total Australian GSM mobile market.
SingTel is also a strategic investor in four of the region's most successful mobile operations. It has a 21.5 per cent stake in Advanced Info Service (AIS), Thailand's largest mobile operator. In India, the Group has a 28.5 per cent interest in the Bharti Group, the country's largest GSM operator. One of SingTel's earliest investments in the region is Globe Telecom in the Philippines. Today, it has a 40.1 per cent stake in the company. Most recently, SingTel invested in a 35.0 per cent stake in Indonesia's largest mobile operator, Telkomsel.
The SingTel Group had a turnover of S$12.0 billion (US$7.17.billion) and net profit after tax of S$4.49 billion (US$2.68 billion) for the year ended 31 March 2004. For the year, AIS, Bharti, Globe and Telkomsel contributed S$927 million in pre-tax earnings (excluding exceptional items) to the Group. The four associates also contributed S$223 million in dividends for the year.