The combined regional mobile customer base of the Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) reached 232 million as at 31 December 2008.
According to the Singapore telco, its year-on-year aggregate mobile customer base in the eight markets—Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand—was up 35 per cent or 61 million. On a quarterly basis, the increase was 7.3 per cent, or 16 million, it said.
The telco continues its lead in Singapore with a total mobile customer base of 2.94 million (as at 31 December 2008), an increase of 26 per cent from a year ago. “A total of 68,000 new mobile customers were added during the quarter of which 30,000 were postpaid net additions with continued good take-up of Apple iPhone 3G,” said the telco.
Growth from regional associates
SingTel ascribed this double-digit customer growth to its associates. “Despite stiff competition in their home markets and the global economic crisis, the six regional associates continued to post double-digit customer growth of between 13 per cent and 55 per cent compared to a year ago,” said the telco.
Among its associates, the biggest haul of customers came from India’s Bharti. Its mobile base reached 85.7 million customers as at 31 December 2008, an increase of 55 per cent from a year ago.
Other major associates that added to the growth include Indonesia’s Telkomsel (36 per cent growth year-on-year), Pakistan’s Warid (28 per cent year-on-year) and Bangladesh’s PBTL (29 per cent year-on-year).
The telco said its Australian subsidiary Optus’s mobile customer base expanded by 9 per cent from a year ago to 7.63 million as at 31 December 2008.
