Subscriber boom

Batelco chairman Shaikh Hamad Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa announced that Batelco Group has reached over seven million customers across its operations at the end of the second quarter.

He added however that intense competition in the Bahrain market contributed to lower group net profits.

Following a board meeting, Shaikh Hamad announced for the half year 2010, a net profit of BD46.7 million ($124 million) against gross revenues of BD170.7 million ($453 million).

Earnings per share were 32.4 fils and the board of directors approved an interim cash dividend of 20 fils per share, as it has done for the last three years.

"Overall our gross revenues did not grow in the first half of 2010 predominantly due to the entry of the third mobile operator in the Bahrain market.

"Reduced market share for mobile and broadband services in Bahrain and strong price erosion adversely affected our revenues and profits. We also expected lower profits due to funding the growth of our start-up operation in India," said Shaikh Hamad.

"The Bahrain telecommunications market today is the most competitive in the region; customers have the widest choice of brands and service providers to choose from for their mobile and broadband services, including international and local calls," he said.

"Government policy through regulatory reform introduced by the TRA has successfully transformed the industry to similar open-competition levels compared to overseas markets which took many more years to transform."

"Customers have real choices; alternative networks in Bahrain allow customers to enjoy innovative solutions from many brands. Batelco will continue to compete for market leadership by offering a full range of products and services at affordable prices," Shaikh Hamad added.

Batelco Group chief executive officer, Peter Kaliaropoulos, said that across Batelco's operations the customer base grew to a total of 7.3 million customers.

Mobiles customers grew by 47 per cent to 6.88 million in H1 2010 compared to 4.68 million in the same period last year. For the same period, broadband services grew by 54 per cent to 230,600 customers and fixed lines declined by five per cent in Bahrain to 192,000 lines.

"We continue to diversify our operations and customer base," said Mr Kaliaropoulos.

"Whilst our operating revenues were flat we managed costs effectively and delivered an EBITDA margin of 43.5 per cent and an EBITDA of BD74.3 million, a decline of four per cent versus the same period in 2009," outlined Mr Kaliaropoulos.

The group's 96 per cent owned subsidiary in Jordan, Umniah, is on track for another successful year thanks to a 14 per cent increase in the number of mobile subscribers with their customer base now standing at 1.70 million. Sabafon, in which the group holds a 26.94 per cent equity investment, delivered revenue growth and their mobile subscriber base increased by 22 per cent, to 2.98 million.

Batelco's partnership with Etihad Atheeb is an evolving success story as the company's customer base, now 87,000 customers, grows steadily buoyed by the popularity of their GO brand which offers quality and value for money broadband and voice services.

STel continues to surge ahead; it has built a customer base of 1.33 million customers using S Tel services across the three circles - Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. Having won 3G spectrum for the same three areas in the recent 3G auction, S Tel is now in the early stages of planning the introduction of 3G services.

Batelco's mobile customer base in Bahrain grew by 16 per cent to 869,000 and its fixed and wireless broadband services also grew by eight per cent to 88,000 accounts. Fixed lines continue to decline and now stand at 192,000, a five per cent decline.

To address the heavy demand on the Blackberry service due to the massive growth in subscriber numbers,

Batelco completed a major enhancement to its Blackberry platform to deliver up-to 17 times faster connection over Batelco's Global Network. Furthermore, Batelco has also introduced Blackberry services for its prepaid SimSim customers.