SingTel's mobile subscriber base tops 92 million
Afp, Singapore
Strong growth in India and Indonesia helped push Singapore Telecommunications' regional mobile phone user base above 92 million at the end of June, Southeast Asia's biggest phone company said Wednesday. The company said it added 7.4 million mobile phone subscribers in the three months to June compared with the previous quarter, the highest increase in its history. On a year-on-year basis, SingTel's mobile users rose 30 percent from 71 million. The bulk of the growth came at SingTel's associates, Bharti in India and Indonesia's Telkomsel, the company said in a statement. Bharti's mobile subscribers jumped 88 percent over the year while Telkomsel recorded a 36 percent gain. SingTel's Australian subsidiary Optus added 8.8 percent year-on-year to bring its overall base to 6.56 million. At home, SingTel had 1.62 million mobile users compared with 1.55 million a year ago. SingTel also has stakes in Thailand mobile operator Advanced Info Service (AIS), Globe Telecom in the Philippines and in Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited (PBTL). The firm is due to release its first-quarter to June earnings on Thursday.
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