13 November 2011
MUSCAT: Oman Telecommunications (Omantel), the Sultanate's biggest telecommunication service provider, yesterday said that its net profit for the first nine months of 2011 stood at RO82.7 million, compared to RO83 million posted for the same period of last year.
The company's revenue moved up to RO333.2 million from RO315.8 million. However, on a quarter over quarter basis, for the period ended September 2011, the net profit has increased by 25 per cent to RO28 million, compared to RO22.4 million in the third quarter of 2010.
Omantel's total customer base witnessed an increase of 4.1 per cent to 3.437 million while its mobile business - Oman Mobile - continued to see significant growth with the mobile network's market share increasing to 57.3 per cent, making Oman Mobile once again the fastest growing mobile operator in the Sultanate.
Through innovative products and improved customer service, Oman Mobile network was able to capture all of the total market net additions during the past 12 months. On the fixed network side, Omantel maintained its leadership with a market share of 95 per cent.
The fixed and mobile domestic retail revenues together recorded a growth of 8 per cent year-on-year basis, despite the challenging situation in Oman following market liberalisation and the launch of fixed services by the other operator.
The investments made by the company in expanding its network reach, enhancing the quality of the services rendered to customers and building more cable systems to enhance Omantel's position as 'carrier of carriers' resulted in increase in expenses by 9 per cent to RO244.2 million from RO224 million for the same period of 2010.
200 new employees
Successful employment of 200 new employees approved by board in response to the government employment initiative and the improvement of employee benefits were the second major driver of the increase in expenses.
Commenting on the results, Amer Awadh Al Rawas, chief executive of Omantel, said: "We are pleased with the impressive growth that Omantel has been making over the past 12 months. Our mobile customer base has grown by 8 per cent despite the stiff competition and change in regulatory policies on the calculation of active subscribers. In fact, Oman Mobile network acquired all the total market net additions. This remarkable growth has been achieved through our past investments to improve customer service, enhance network coverage and introduce innovative products to our customers.".
"We continued to invest in implementing our customer experience enhancement strategy, expanding the reach of our network, and building more international submarine cables. This has resulted in increase in expenses by 9 per cent compared to the corresponding period of last year," added Al Rawas.
"Omantel submarine cable business is growing and we are glad to see a significant increase in the capacities sold to international operators. We are planning to add three more submarine cables to our network in the coming few months which will further strengthen our position as 'carrier of carriers' and ensure our international customers a more redundant and reliable connectivity," noted the Omantel chief executive.
The new products and offers that were introduced since the beginning of this year reaffirmed the company's leadership in the telecom market in the Sultanate.
The investments made in expanding the 3.5G network and next generation network have resulted in increased number of fixed and mobile broadband customers, which were increased to 292,000 -- a growth of 52 per cent compared to the same period of last year.
MUSCAT: Oman Telecommunications (Omantel), the Sultanate's biggest telecommunication service provider, yesterday said that its net profit for the first nine months of 2011 stood at RO82.7 million, compared to RO83 million posted for the same period of last year.
The company's revenue moved up to RO333.2 million from RO315.8 million. However, on a quarter over quarter basis, for the period ended September 2011, the net profit has increased by 25 per cent to RO28 million, compared to RO22.4 million in the third quarter of 2010.
Omantel's total customer base witnessed an increase of 4.1 per cent to 3.437 million while its mobile business - Oman Mobile - continued to see significant growth with the mobile network's market share increasing to 57.3 per cent, making Oman Mobile once again the fastest growing mobile operator in the Sultanate.
Through innovative products and improved customer service, Oman Mobile network was able to capture all of the total market net additions during the past 12 months. On the fixed network side, Omantel maintained its leadership with a market share of 95 per cent.
The fixed and mobile domestic retail revenues together recorded a growth of 8 per cent year-on-year basis, despite the challenging situation in Oman following market liberalisation and the launch of fixed services by the other operator.
The investments made by the company in expanding its network reach, enhancing the quality of the services rendered to customers and building more cable systems to enhance Omantel's position as 'carrier of carriers' resulted in increase in expenses by 9 per cent to RO244.2 million from RO224 million for the same period of 2010.
200 new employees
Successful employment of 200 new employees approved by board in response to the government employment initiative and the improvement of employee benefits were the second major driver of the increase in expenses.
Commenting on the results, Amer Awadh Al Rawas, chief executive of Omantel, said: "We are pleased with the impressive growth that Omantel has been making over the past 12 months. Our mobile customer base has grown by 8 per cent despite the stiff competition and change in regulatory policies on the calculation of active subscribers. In fact, Oman Mobile network acquired all the total market net additions. This remarkable growth has been achieved through our past investments to improve customer service, enhance network coverage and introduce innovative products to our customers.".
"We continued to invest in implementing our customer experience enhancement strategy, expanding the reach of our network, and building more international submarine cables. This has resulted in increase in expenses by 9 per cent compared to the corresponding period of last year," added Al Rawas.
"Omantel submarine cable business is growing and we are glad to see a significant increase in the capacities sold to international operators. We are planning to add three more submarine cables to our network in the coming few months which will further strengthen our position as 'carrier of carriers' and ensure our international customers a more redundant and reliable connectivity," noted the Omantel chief executive.
The new products and offers that were introduced since the beginning of this year reaffirmed the company's leadership in the telecom market in the Sultanate.
The investments made in expanding the 3.5G network and next generation network have resulted in increased number of fixed and mobile broadband customers, which were increased to 292,000 -- a growth of 52 per cent compared to the same period of last year.
© Times of Oman 2011
