Mobile operator Bharti Airtel has announced a 15 percent rise in revenue for its third quarter ending December 31, 2012, while it reached 262 million subscribers.
The company, which operates across the world including several African countries, currently has more than 262 million subscribers and said total time spent on the network had risen by 12 percent to 284 billion minutes.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, Bharti Airtel Chairman and Managing Director, noted the various challenges facing the company’s operations in Africa.
“Market conditions have been challenging in recent quarters due to pricing pressures and rising input costs, which have put enormous pressure on the sector and consequently the margins,” Mittal said.
“However, the worst seems to be getting over with corrections taking place in customer acquisition practices and the tariffs, which are driving quality of acquisitions and improving efficiencies. Moreover, on the data front, it is heartening to see strong growth quarter on quarter and across geographies.”
In Africa, Airtel said mobile data revenues rose by 80 percent, while in India the company recorded a 70 percent increase in mobile data revenues.
Furthermore, the company’s customer base in Africa grew by 21 percent. It also recorded a 42 percent growth in its voice traffic and non voice revenue grew by 85 per cent.
Airtel’s voice usage per customer in Africa in the period under review rose to 144 minutes from 125 minutes, representing a growth of 15 percent.
