Celcom Axiata, a leading 4G mobile network operator in Malaysia and the wholly-owned subsidiary of Axiata Group, now has 9.58 million subscribers, as of 1Q 2022.
The mobile Telco lost around 11k subscribers, between January and March this year, down from a subscriber base of 9.6 million it had in 4Q21.
The negative numbers were mainly prepaid customers, now at 6.33 million users, as of March 2022 (1Q22), down from the 6.36 million it had at the end of December 2021 (4Q21).
There are 3.25 million postpaid subscribers where it added 11k new subscriptions in 1Q22, up from 3.24 million in 4Q21 (December 2021).
ARPU was RM80 (-RM1) for postpaid, RM29 for prepaid (-RM1).
Celcom mobile customers consumed an average data of 23.9GB/month in 1Q22, down from the 24.3GB/month in 4Q21.
Approximate 8.9 million subscribers or 93% of the subscriber base are smartphone users, but not all are Celcom mobile Internet users. 82.7% or approximately 7.92 million customers are data users, lower than the 83.3% in 4Q21.
4G LTE population coverage improved by 1.4% to 95.86% (based on the minimum signal strength quality of -110dbm) between January to March this year, however there were no improvements to the 4G LTE-A coverage since June 2021, currently at 89.89%.
In a statement last week, Axiata Group said Celcom sustained its positive momentum as revenue ex-device climbed 5.2% YoY driven by its prepaid business and contribution from new Enterprise Solution subsidiaries – Bridgenet Solutions and Infront Malaysia. EBIT surged more than 100% as a result of the accelerated 3G depreciation in 2021, coupled with lower sales and marketing costs. Consequently, PATAMI grew more than 100%, whilst being partly offset by higher tax from the one-off Cukai Makmur.
Celcom remains committed to investing in modernising its widest network coverage to deliver reliable services and consistent performance, affordable to its customers, towards enabling improved connectivity and digital inclusion in Malaysia, it added.
Axiata recently announced that its President & Group Chief Executive Officer (Group CEO), Dato’ Izzaddin Idris will step down effective 31 May 2022. His stepping down is based on a mutual cessation of his service contract between him and Axiata, the Telco claims.
The outgoing President & Group CEO said last week that Celcom Axiata Bhd will try to meet the negotiation process deadline by July 2022 with Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) for a 5G service agreement.
The deal, which is quite similar to a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) model, will allow Celcom and other Telcos to utilise DNB’s 5G network to offer the next generation mobile services.
The Axiata Board has appointed Axiata’s Chief Executive Officer for its Telecommunications Business and Group Executive Vice President Dr Hans Wijayasuria, and Group Chief Financial Officer Vivek Sood as interim joint acting Group CEOs effective 1 June 2022.
