Singtel achieves highest quarterly postpaid net additions in 10 years
Optus’ mobile customer base exceeds 9 million

Singapore, 11 May 2011 – Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel) today announced that the Group has achieved a new milestone by surpassing the 400 million mobile customer mark. The Group served 403 million mobile customers in 25 countries as at 31 March 2011, an increase of 37 per cent or 110 million from a year ago.

* 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 reached 212 million from its operations across Asia and Africa as at 31 March 2011. This represents an increase of 66 per cent or 84.3 million from a year ago.

Bharti launched 3G services in 21 cities across 7 circles in India during the quarter, offering a host of innovative services to their customers such as mobile TV, video calls and high definition gaming, along with access to high speed internet. Bharti’s India mobile customer base expanded 27 per cent or 34.6 million from a year ago to 162 million.

In Africa, Bharti’s mobile customer base grew 5 per cent or 2.1 million from a quarter ago. Bharti continues to focus on growing its customer base with ongoing network rollout and enhanced brand presence.

With new competitive price offerings introduced in December 2010, Telkomsel added 5.4 million mobile customers in the current quarter. Its mobile customer base grew to 99.4 million, an increase of 21 per cent or 17.4 million from a year ago. AIS’ mobile customer base grew 8 per cent or 2.4 million from a year ago to 32.0 million. Globe had 27.3 million mobile customers, an increase of 14 per cent or 3.4 million from a year ago.

Warid had a mobile customer base of 17.8 million, an increase of 9 per cent or 1.5 million from a year ago. PBTL's total mobile customer base was 1.8 million, 6 per cent or 121,000 lower than a year ago resulting from a change in regulatory definition of active customer base.

Optus’ mobile customer base exceeds 9 million

Optus added 103,000 new mobile customers in the quarter, through a combination of innovative offerings, continued focus on enhancing customer experience and ongoing network investment. Net additions for the full year were 570,000, representing a 7 per cent growth, bringing Optus’ total mobile customer base to over 9 million as at 31 March 2011.

Postpaid customers grew 151,000 this quarter, reflecting Optus’ strong customer offerings despite a highly competitive market.

Prepaid customer base declined by 47,000 this quarter, impacted by a higher than average customer churn rate on certain international calling plans.

The number of 3G customers increased to 5.09 million, a 41 per cent increase from a year ago. This included a base of 1.28 million wireless broadband customers.

Singtel achieves highest quarterly postpaid net additions in 10 years

Singtel added 78,000 mobile customers in the quarter, bringing full year net additions to 191,000 and the total mobile customer base to 3.31 million as at 31 March 2011. Singtel continued to lead the mobile market with a market share of 44.8 per cent².

A record number of 51,000 postpaid customers were added in the quarter, the highest quarterly net additions in 10 years. The increase was driven by strong demand for smartphones and increased take-up of data SIMs, following the successful launch of integrated mobile broadband bundles in the quarter.

Singtel gained 27,000 prepaid customers in the quarter. The growth was led by positive customer response to new prepaid initiatives such as the 3G SIM card, Data VAS and Blackberry VAS. Total prepaid mobile customers reached 1.53 million, a 2 per cent increase from a year ago.

More information on the performance of the Singtel Group will be available on 12 May 2011 when it announces its results for the fourth quarter ended 31 March 2011.

[1] Comparatives for 31 March 2010 exclude Bharti’s Bangladesh and Sri Lanka mobile customers of 3.7 million.

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