Cell C and Vodacom slash rates for prepaid segment (South Africa)
Mobile operators Cell C and Vodacom have introduced new packages for the prepaid segments, with both operators offering local calls to any network for $0.12.
According to a report by iol, in a move that industry watchers believe will trigger a wave of price cuts, Cell C last week introduced its 99 cents for real tariff – slashing its rates by 34 percent. Vodacom followed suit minutes later with its “Freedom 99” plan.
The report reveals that Cell C’s prepaid plan is the cheaper of the two as customers are billed per second from the first second, while Vodacom charges $0.12 for the first minute, then in 30-second increments thereafter.
However, Vodacom offers free Vodacom-to-Vodacom calls from midnight to 5am if customers recharge with at least $1.43 on the day. Further, while Cell C will continue its plan, Vodacom said its deal would end on July 31.
Banglalink awards charging system upgrade to Ericsson (Bangladesh, Sweden)
Banglalink, one of Bangladesh’s leading mobile phone operators, today announced that it has entered into a five-year agreement with Ericsson to upgrade its charging system, including IN expansion, consulting and systems integration services, as well as support. The upgraded charging system will enable Banglalink to offer subscribers new and innovative value-added services.
Thanks to Ericsson’s consulting and systems integration services, Banglalink’s upgraded solution will feature geographical redundancy, meaning that it will remain functional in the event of any natural disasters or network outages. To date, more than 90 percent of Bangladesh’s mobile subscribers belong to the prepaid segment.
Mohammed Osman, Acting CEO and Chief Financial Officer of Banglalink, said that this is why they wanted to get a powerful unified, consolidated and standard solution that provides them with a competitive edge in prepaid services. This upgrade will also make it easier for them to adopt a convergent prepaid and postpaid billing system in the future. More importantly, it gives them the ability to quickly launch new value-added products and services.
By integrating the Ericsson OSS Navigator with the Ericsson Charging System, Banglalink will benefit from more effective network monitoring and improved service-aware network management. It will also have access to a combination of business and network data that will provide a holistic overview of end users and network efficiency. As a result, Banglalink will be able to develop innovative subscriber plans based on end-user behaviors and network capabilities.
Per-Henrik Nielsen, President of Ericsson Bangladesh, said that they are pleased to provide Banglalink with a robust charging system that will help bring more innovative services to its subscribers. They are also confident that this upgrade to the charging system will strengthen Banglalink’s relationships with its customers.
SingTel Group’s mobile customer base reaches 445 million (Singapore)
Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) announced that the Group posted another quarter of strong growth in customer acquisitions. As at 31 March 2012, the Group had a total mobile customer base of 445 million, an increase of 11 per cent or 42.9 million from a year ago.
Airtel’s total mobile customer base reached 241 million as at 31 March 2012, an increase of 29.2 million or 14 per cent from a year ago. In India, Airtel’s mobile customer base grew by 19.1 million or 12 per cent to 181 million. During the quarter, Airtel introduced ‘Airtel Money’, India’s first telco-led mobile wallet service on a nationwide basis.
In Africa, Airtel had a total mobile customer base of 53.1 million, an increase of 8.9 million or 20 per cent. In the quarter, Airtel expanded the rollout of its 3G services to five more countries in Africa: Ghana, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania.
Telkomsel’s total mobile customer base stood at 110 million, up 10.5 million or 11 per cent. Its market share was at approximately 43.3 per cent as at 31 March 2012, up 0.4 percentage point from a quarter ago.
Optus continued its postpaid customer growth momentum with net additions of 82,000 this quarter which included a one-off reduction of 33,000 to a wholesale service provider’s customer base. Excluding this adjustment, postpaid customer net additions this quarter were 115,000.
Prepaid customers were stable at 4.29 million. Net additions for the full year were 421,000, bringing Optus’ total mobile customer base to 9.49 million, up 5 per cent from a year ago. Postpaid customers comprised 55 per cent of the total base, up 2 percentage points from a year ago.
The number of 3G customers increased to 6.63 million, a 6 per cent increase from a quarter ago. This included a base of 1.58 million wireless broadband customers, an increase of 23 per cent from a year ago.
In Singapore, SingTel further grew its market leadership to 45.9 per cent. Its total mobile customer base grew by 273,000 customers or 8.3 per cent from a year ago to 3.58 million as at 31 March 2012.
Full year net additions in the postpaid segment were 171,000 customers, lifting total postpaid customer base by 9.6 per cent to 1.95 million. The growth was driven by increasing demand for smartphones and data SIMs from integrated mobile broadband bundles.
In the prepaid segment, SingTel’s customer base grew by 102,000 customers or 6.7 per cent to 1.63 million, led by strong demand for 3G offerings such as 3G SIM, data and Blackberry value added services. SingTel continues to drive data usage among prepaid customers, empowering them with faster Internet access at lower costs with the introduction of ‘Opera Mini Browser’.
MTN subscriber base up by 3.7 percent in December quarter (Africa)
MTN Group recorded 170,573,000 subscribers at 31 March 2012. This is a 3.7 percent increase for the quarter from 164,501,000 subscribers recorded at 31 December 2011. The Group delivered a satisfactory performance notwithstanding continued high levels of competition in key markets.
Consistent with the new management structure, this commentary includes detailed analysis of each of the five larger operations (MTN South Africa, MTN Nigeria, MTN Irancell, MTN Ghana and MTN Syria) and highlights from the rest of the operations. However, a schedule of subscriber and ARPU numbers for all operations is also given.
MTN South Africa contributed 13.3 percent to Group subscribers and delivered a sound performance in a mature market. It increased its subscriber base 3.2 percent for the quarter. The postpaid segment performed well, increasing its subscriber base by 4.4 percent mainly due to attractive data propositions. The prepaid segment increased its subscriber base by 2.9 percent despite increased competition. This was attributable to competitive promotions including the continued success of MTN Zone through improved informal distribution channels. Blended ARPU declined 7.9 percent mainly due to a reduction in interconnect rates to 56 cents in March 2012 from 73 cents previously. Postpaid and prepaid ARPU decreased 6.7 percent and 8.1 percent respectively.
MTN Nigeria contributed 25.1 percent to Group subscribers and increased its subscriber base by 3.0 percent for the quarter. Net connections of 1,258,000 were negatively impacted by a nationwide strike in January and aggressive competition. Slower net connections at the beginning of the year resulted in a marginal loss of MTN’s share of the market. However, corrective measures enabled the operation to increase network capacity and improve net connections later in the quarter. No clarity has yet been provided on the deadline for SIM registration. The harmonizing of MTN Nigeria’s database of registered subscribers with the NCC database is in progress. Local currency ARPU declined by 1.1 percent for the quarter.
MTN Irancell contributed 21.6 percent to Group subscribers. On a proportional basis, reflecting MTN’s 49 percent ownership, its contribution was 11.9 percent. It continued to deliver a solid performance growing its subscriber base by 6.2 percent and increasing its share of the market for the quarter. This was mainly due to attractive value propositions including 2-in-1 SIM packs and various seasonal promotions. At the end of March, MTN Irancell recorded 213 000 WiMax customers. Local currency ARPU increased 3.7 percent due to improved network quality. The third mobile operator is expected to launch commercially in the second quarter of 2012.
MTN Ghana contributed 6.1 percent to Group subscribers, increasing its subscribers 2.3 percent for the quarter and maintaining market share in a competitive environment. This was due to attractive promotions as well as the implementation of a regional structure to better manage sales and marketing. Local currency ARPU increased by 3.4 percent mainly because of revised value propositions. The deadline for SIM registration was 1 March 2012 resulting in a disconnection of 21,237 subscribers representing 2 percent of the subscriber base. The sixth mobile operator had its commercial launch at the end of April 2012.
MTN Syria contributed 3.3 percent to Group subscribers. Its performance continued to be hampered by civil unrest in the country, which resulted in a reduction of subscriber numbers of 23,000 subscribers and a decline in local currency ARPU of 8.5 percent.
The rest of MTN’s operations contributed 30.5 percent to Group subscribers, representing an increase in users of 3.5 percent. MTN Uganda increased its subscriber base by 1.2 percent as the market slowed due to SIM registration. MTN Sudan continued to show good progress, increasing its subscriber base by 5.3 percent for the quarter attributable to attractive value propositions and improved distribution. MTN Cameroon also performed well and increased its subscriber base by 9.8 percent. This was attributable to a more aggressive informal distribution strategy and attractive value propositions. MTN Cote d’Ivoire increased its subscriber base marginally by 0.5 percent because of the removal of 200,000 non revenue generating SIM cards and lower gross connections due to SIM registration.
The Group continues to prioritise key initiatives to better manage the business as consumer trends evolve and competition intensifies. Data and related products and services continued to gain momentum. Data, including SMS, contributes 14.4 percent to revenue, driven mainly by MTN South Africa. Mobile Money has now been launched in 13 countries. At the end of March 2012, MTN had 6.2 million Mobile Money subscribers. Initiatives to optimise costs continue to be rolled out and the centralized procurement initiative is showing solid progress.
Network quality and capacity remains a key imperative for the Group. The majority of the operations continued to aggressively rollout network and achieved satisfactory progress for the quarter.
Digicel attracts one million customers via one rate plan (Jamaica)
Mobile operator Digicel has announced that over one million customers have signed up for its new one rate plan. The operator offered users the US$ 0.1 per minute plan enabling them to call to any number on any local network at any time.
As per reports, the new plan has made it possible for the operator’s prepaid segment to save up to 47 per cent on local calls. Mark Linehan, chief executive officer of Digicel Jamaica, said that the customer reaction has been phenomenal as evidenced by over one million of our customers now enjoying the benefits.
Bharti Airtel launches online self care service for prepaid segment (India)
India’s leading global telecommunications company Bharti Airtel, has announced the launch of India’s first online self care services for its prepaid mobile customers across the country. With this, Airtel’s prepaid subscribers can log onto the company website to access and manage their mobile accounts.
According to company reports, ‘Prepaid My Account’ is a simple, secure and convenient way for Airtel prepaid mobile customers to access a whole host of functionalities including checking balance, recharging, starting / stopping VAS services, provisioning 3G, raising and tracking service requests, viewing last 5 recharge details, among others. Airtel prepaid mobile customers can visit the new self care website to receive and activate customized offers on ‘my airtel, my offer’ (MAMO), view tariff & top up options, request for the itemized bill and more.
The company has launched this online self service capability for its prepaid customers, as part of its ongoing effort towards delivering the best customer experience in the digital space and empowering customers with a convenient way of managing their prepaid mobile accounts at any time of the day.
Hutchison Telecom Customer Base Surpasses 26.5 Million
Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (SEHK: 2332; NYSE: HTX; “Hutchison Telecom / the Group”) today announced its unaudited key performance indicators for the quarter ended 30 September 2006.
The Group recorded a net addition of 3 million new customers in the quarter, representing a 12.8% quarterly increase, taking the Group’s total customer base to approximately 26.5 million.
The Group also reported strong third quarter net profit attributable to equity holders of HK$103 million, taking net profit attributable to equity holders for the nine months ended September 2006 to HK$105 million.
Hutchison Essar, the Group’s operation in India, again spearheaded significant customer growth with 2.8 million net additions for the quarter, a 16% improvement for the period. With the total customer base at the end of the quarter reaching 20.4 million, more than double the customer base of a year ago, robust growth momentum is continuing.
The Group’s Israeli operation, Partner Communications, reported 41,000 net additions to its customer base, almost doubling growth against the previous quarter. Partner’s ARPU rose 3.7% to NIS164, signifying the strength of its quality network, superb customer service, strong brand and leading data and content offerings. This growth is being fuelled by an increasing contribution from data usage and by Partner’s ability to continue to grow its customer base with high quality subscribers.
The Hong Kong mobile operations of the Group showed healthy growth across all its operational parameters. Its 3G customer base, associated with premium and stable ARPU, saw 31% growth for the quarter to approximately 666,000. Today this figure has grown further to approximately 690,000, reinforcing the momentum of the high-speed mobile data market in Hong Kong.
Dennis Lui, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Telecom, said: “Hutchison Telecom has delivered another quarter of exceptional growth in its customer bases with significant momentum in the Indian market, particularly the prepaid segment, as well as acquisitions of higher value customers in Hong Kong and Israel. The healthy trend registered in these and other operational parameters helped us to increase net profit to HK$105 million for the first three quarters of 2006. This operational performance looks encouraging for the Group’s financial performance in the final quarter and hence the year.”
“Solid progress has been made in the advancement of our new service areas but not as fast as we would have hoped. We currently expect to launch commercial operations in Vietnam in the first few months of 2007 and in Indonesia shortly thereafter. We also hope to launch services in new licence areas in India during 2007.”
Source- http://biz.yahoo.com
