Celcom Axiata Berhad announced its quarter two(Q2/2013) financial results yesterday and revealed that it has a total subscribers at almost 14 million, the highest subscriber share in the industry. The total subscribers includes mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) under its network such as Tune Talk, Merchantrade Asia and others.
[Dato’ Sri Shazalli Ramly, Chief Executive Officer (centre) together with Chari TVT, Chief Financial Officer (left) and Jennifer Wong Chui Fen, Head of Business Support and Revenue Assurance of Celcom Axiata Berhad]
Smartphones on Celcom’s network now stands at 3.57 million users, representing close to 28% of Celcom’s mobile customers. Tablet users currently stands at 271,000. The mobile operator also revealed that it currently has the highest number of mobile broadband subscribers at 1.1 million.
As for the Celcom 4G LTE services, the telco said it is moving beyond customer trials for Celcom 4G LTE by introducing more devices and commercial plans from October onwards. Currently, eligible customers can enjoy Celcom 4G LTE through existing Celcom First broadband and mobile internet plans.
Current Celcom 4G LTE deployment aims to reach 30% of the population by the end of Q2 2014 covering 33 strategic districts nationwide including Klang Valley, Johor Bahru, and Penang, as well as Kota Bharu, Kuala Terengganu, Langkawi, Ipoh, Kuantan, Malacca, Kota Kinabalu, and Kuching. Celcom is also spending RM420 million of its CAPEX budget to enhance its nationwide network for LTE deployment.
Celcom said it will continue its investments in its mobile network, resulting in fast data connections through an expanding LTE network complemented by its current HSPA+ (3G) speeds of up to 42Mbps in urban centres. The telco has completed its nationwide network upgrade exercise and is currently focusing on key Klang Valley upgrades due for completion at the end of the year that will seamlessly integrate 2G, 3G, and LTE back-end infrastructure for optimal customer experience and efficient asset utilisation.
Celcom’s quarterly revenue for April to June 2013 stood at RM2.01 billion for the very first time in the company’s history, bringing the total to RM3.99 billion for the year to date (YTD) and representing a year-on-year (y-o-y) improvement of 4.3%.
Its quarterly normalised earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also improved to RM900 million, bringing the total for the first half of 2013 to RM1.78 billion.
Celcom also registered better profit after tax and minority interest (PATAMI) of RM577 million, a 5.1 per cent increase from the previous quarter of RM549 million, bringing operational PATAMI for the first half of 2013 to RM1.13 billion .
Moving forward, Celcom said that it will continue its focus on digital services through its new subsidiary ESCAPE Axiata Berhad. It will also further enhance its brand and voice usage by the introduction of Xpax24, a new prepaid brand for youth aged 24 years and above.
