SingTel reports 37% growth in Asian mobile base

Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) today reported that mobile customers at its various interests in Asia grew by 37% in the year to 30 September 2008, to close out the month on a total of 216.7 million. SingTel said growth was primarily driven by its six regional associates which increased their mobile bases by between 15% and 59% in the last year. In a statement, the Southeast Asian group said its Indian venture Bharti added a record 8.1 million new users in the three months to September, lifting its total to 77.48 million, while Telkomsel in Indonesia signed up 8.06 million net new users to reach a total of 60.5 million. Thai operator AIS signed up 810,000 new users, Globe Telecom (Philippines) added 1.01 million users, Warid of Pakistan added 668,000 net new users and Pacific Bangladesh Telecom grew its base from 1.70 million to 1.75 million quarter-on-quarter. Elsewhere, the group’s Aussie unit, SingTel Optus, saw mobile users increase to 7.42 million from 7.24 million in June and, at home, SingTel Mobile expanded its base to 2.87 million in the third quarter from 2.75 million in the three months ended 30 June. SingTel will announce its third-quarter financial results on Wednesday.