Telenor Posts Strong Second Quarter 2010

Highlights:

• 519k net subscriber growth
• Stable ARPU
• 16% organic increase in mobile revenues from subscriber growth
• Financial services starting to contribute to revenue growth
• Margin jump driven by higher revenue, decommissioning of leased lines and reduction in SIM tax Q3 09

Telenor Pakistan’s added 519,000 subscribers in the previous quarter, a rise of 14% over the same period last year with subscriber numbers reaching 23.80 million at the end of Q2 2010.
EBITDA margins also continued to rise, up 34% over the previous quarter and 75% year-on-year. ARPU remained positive both year-on-year and over the previous quarter.

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Jon Eddy Abdullah, CEO Telenor Pakistan while commenting on the results said: “I am pleased with the fact that Telenor Pakistan continues to perform well. Still, the energy shortages, currency devaluation, security costs and discriminatory taxation on the industry are a constant challenge. We look forward to timely intervention by the government through measures aimed at minimizing the impact these factors are having on the development of the industry and, as a result, the country.”
In the previous quarter, Telenor Pakistan also did well on other fronts. It became one of the few mobile operators in the world – and the first in Pakistan — to receive a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Mobile Money for the Unbanked Fund. It launched the industry-first, state-of-the-art, Sahulat Ghar to help bring mobile services to more people across the country. And it provided free telecommunication services to Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation in Hunza to assist in emergency communications regarding the situation in Attabad and surrounding areas.