Zeenews writes…Bharti Airtel, the country`s largest private cellular operator, on Tuesday reported a massive 123 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 1,215 crore as it added 50 lakh new subscribers in the third quarter this fiscal.

The company`s market share rose to 21.8 per cent with its subscriber base – mobile, broadband and telephone – increasing about two-fold to reach 3.37 crore as on December 31, 2006. It added 50.19 lakh customers during October-December 2006, a growth of 92 per cent year-on-year.

Total revenues stood at Rs 4,913 crore for the third quarter this fiscal, up 62 per cent over Rs 3026 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net profit during the third quarter of 2005-06 was at Rs 545 crore.

The average revenues per user for mobile services stood at Rs 427 and monthly usage per customer was 467 minutes during the quarter under review.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2006, the company`s net profit increased by 84 per cent year-on-year to touch Rs 2,904 crore and revenues grew by 59 per cent on a yearly basis and stood at Rs 13,126 crore.

“Demand for telecom services continues to be robust across all segments, led by a buoyant economy. The wireless sector has seen record additions and the trend is likely to continue,” Bharti Airtel Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Bharti Mittal said in a statement.

Bharti Airtel will transfer its towers and related passive infrastructure business into a wholly-owned arm – Bharti Infratel Ltd. The company also plans to acquire a submarine network cable system from network i2i for 110 million dollar.

Wireless Mobile Telecom