Singtel Group expands mobile customer base to 416 million

Singtel Singapore achieves another record quarter for postpaid customer additions
Optus grows postpaid customer base
Telkomsel exceeds 100 million mobile customers in Indonesia

Singapore, 10 August 2011 – Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel) today announced that the Group delivered another strong quarter of mobile customer acquisitions. The Group’s total mobile customer base increased by 19 per cent or 65.4 million from a year ago, to 416 million as at 30 June 2011.

 *  Proportionate share of mobile customers represents the total number of mobile customers of an associate multiplied by the Group’s effective percentage ownership in the associate at the respective dates.

Bharti’s total mobile customer base across its operations in South Asia and Africa grew to 221 million as at 30 June 2011, representing an increase of 25 per cent or 44.3 million from a year ago. 

Bharti completed the rollout of its 3G services in India, across all thirteen 3G licence circles, and introduced international video calling capabilities on 3G. Bharti’s mobile customer base in India reached 169 million, an increase of 24 per cent or 32.6 million from a year ago.

Bharti’s mobile customer base in Africa grew 27 per cent or 9.9 million from a year ago to 46.3 million. During the quarter, Bharti announced contracts with various vendors to modernise and expand its 2G and 3G networks in Africa to expand its mobile services and mobile broadband footprint in the region.

 Telkomsel crossed the 100 millionth customer milestone in April, making it the 7^th operator in the world to serve more than 100 million customers in one country. Its mobile customer base reached 102 million as at 30 June 2011, an increase of 16 per cent or 14.0 million from a year ago. 

Optus grows postpaid customer base

Optus added 113,000 postpaid customers this quarter despite intense market competition. Over the same period, total mobile customers grew by 28,000 to 9.10 million as at 30 June 2011.

Total postpaid customers reached 4.89 million, up 13 per cent from a year ago, and comprised 54 per cent of the total base.

Prepaid net additions were impacted by the competitive market and continuing prepaid-to-postpaid migration. As with prior quarters, there were higher customer churn rates on International Calls for Less plans and also on certain plans with long expiry periods. This resulted in a net decline of 85,000 in the prepaid customer base from a quarter ago.

The number of 3G customers increased to 5.29 million, a 4 per cent increase from a quarter ago. This included a base of 1.36 million wireless broadband customers, an increase of approximately 81,000 customers since a quarter ago. 

Singtel Singapore achieves another record quarter for postpaid customer additions 

Singtel added 110,000 mobile customers from a quarter ago, bringing the total mobile customer base to 3.42 million as at 30 June 2011, and has a leading share of 45.3 per cent[1] in Singapore.

In the postpaid segment, 57,000 customers were added from a quarter ago, recording the highest quarterly postpaid net additions. The growth was driven by strong demand for smartphones and the increased take-up of data SIMs for integrated mobile broadband bundles and tablets.

Singtel gained 53,000 prepaid customers from a quarter ago, led by positive customer response to successful 3G prepaid offerings such as the 3G SIM card, as well as data and Blackberry value added services.

More information on the performance of the Singtel Group will be available on 11 August 2011 when it announces its results for the first quarter ended 30 June 2011.

[1] Mobile market share based on telco operators’ published results.