Telecoms network Telkom has reported a mixed bag of results regarding its subscriber base, with ADSL and mobile user numbers growing but its fixed-line figures falling.<\/p>\n
According to Telkom\u2019s annual results for the period ending March 2015, the company reported that its ADSL subscriber numbers grew 7.9% from 931 858 subscribers last year to 1 005 286 this year.<\/p>\n
As a result, Telkom said its fixed-line data revenue increased 1.5% to R10.4bn.<\/p>\n
But Telkom\u2019s total number of fixed access lines, which includes voice users, fell 4.9% during the period from 3.618 million to 3.439 million.<\/p>\n
Revenue associated with Telkom\u2019s fixed-line voice business was also on a significant downward curve for the period.<\/p>\n
\u201cFixed-line voice usage revenue continued its downward trend, decreasing 13.5% to R6.867bn (March 2014: R7.934bn),\u201d said Telkom in its results announcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis can be attributed to a 9.6% decline in voice minutes, resulting from fixed-to-mobile substitution and a 4.9% decline in the number of lines. The decrease was in business as well as residential lines. Business lines decreased due to the consolidation of business activities and cost-saving initiatives,\u201d said Telkom.<\/p>\n
The company said however that its fixed-line subscriptions revenue grew 2.5% to R8bn – up from R7.812bn in March 2014. This is as a result of average line rental tariff increases of about 6%, said Telkom.<\/p>\n
Mobile subscriber numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n Meanwhile, Telkom\u2019s number of active mobile subscribers increased 21.2% to 2 186 774 with a blended average revenue per user (ARPU) of R75.05 for the period ending March 2015.<\/p>\n Telkom also said that its number of integrated mobile sites or towers in South Africa increased 3.4% to 2 510. In addition, Telkom\u2019s number of integrated LTE sites also rose 11.3% to 1 317, according to the company.<\/p>\n In terms of its mobile business, Telkom said it recorded a strong performance with this unit\u2019s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) loss having improved by 48.7%.<\/p>\n The company also said that its mobile net revenue increased 174.1% to R954m and that its mobile data revenue rose 50.6% during the period to R988m.<\/p>\n Telkom added that its mobile voice and subscriber revenue lifted 46% from R491m in March 2014 to R717m for the period ending March 2015.<\/p>\n \u201cThis can be attributed to a 21.2% increase in the number of active mobile subscribers and a 19.5% increase in blended ARPU,\u201d said Telkom.<\/p>\n Payments to mobile operators also decreased 37.2% for Telkom as a result of a reduction in mobile termination rates.<\/p>\n The telecom company\u2019s mobile capital expenditure further fell 64.8% from R1.368bn last year to R481m for the period ending March 2015.<\/p>\n The company attributed this decrease to the \u201cshift to a more concentrated roll-out in major metropolitan areas\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe current focus on the radio access network (RAN) is to complete existing projects and to provide capacity to relieve congestion in identified growth areas,\u201d said Telkom.<\/p>\n Overall, Telkom\u2019s annual results revealed that its group net revenue increased 3.1% to R26bn while its Ebitda rose 15.1% to R9bn. The group did, however, report a profit after tax of R2.9bn which is 19.5% lower than the R3.6bn recorded in March 2014.<\/p>\n News24<\/a><\/p>\n Telkom wants to accelerate retrenchments<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Telkom returns to dividend payouts<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Retrenchments cost Telkom hundreds of millions<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on Telkom<\/h3>\n