Telecom
Airtel Announces Consolidated Total Revenues up by 10% YoY
Bharti Airtel Limited on Thursday announced its audited consolidated IFRS results for the quarter ended September 30, 2013.
The consolidated revenues for Q2‟14 at ₹ 21,324 crore grew by 10% over the corresponding quarter last year. Mobile internet revenues at ₹ 1,503 crore grew more than 100% Y-o-Y, accounting for 39.1% of the overall incremental revenue. Revenues were also enhanced by strong growths of 28.8% in Digital TV, 20.8% in „Airtel business‟ (B2B), and 54.4% in South Asia.
Mobile voice realisation in India improved by 1.31 p on a Y-o-Y basis (36.74 p in Q2‟14 vs 35.43 p in Q2‟13), together with an increase in voice usage per customer by 20 minutes per month (up from 417 mins in Q2‟13 to 437 mins per subs in Q2‟14).
Data usage per customer has gone up by 98 MBs (from 133 MBs in Q2‟13 to 231 MBs per customer in Q2‟14). Consequently, ARPU has moved up by ₹ 15 to ₹ 192 in Q2‟14.
International revenues grew by 17.9% Y-o-Y and 18.3% Q-o-Q in INR terms with Africa growing by 16.1% Y-o-Y & 18.5% Q-o-Q while South Asia grew by 54.4% Y-o-Y & 16.0% Q-o-Q. Africa revenue in constant USD terms grew by 5.4% on sequential quarter basis led by a strong 28.2% increase in Data revenues.
Mobile voice pricing in Africa remained stable at 3.30 cents per minute. Net Revenue in Africa (after inter-connect costs and cost of goods sold) has grown by 20.7% Y-o-Y in INR terms.
Consolidated EBITDA grew by 15.1% Y-o-Y at ₹ 6,832 crore with margin expanding to 32.0% from 30.6% in the corresponding quarter last year, driven by India EBITDA margin improvement from 32.6% to 34.8%.
The much improved operational performance is reflected in EBIT of ₹ 2,893 crore, representing a 28.7% Y-o-Y growth and 2.0% EBIT margin improvement.
The continued depreciation of the Indian Rupee has resulted in forex restatement and derivative losses of ₹ 342 crore (vs. ₹ 25 crore loss for Q2‟13). Consequently, the consolidated net income came in at ₹512 crore, as against ₹ 721 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.
Consolidated Operating Free Cash Flows for the quarter were at ₹ 4,693 crore, reflecting a robust growth of 117.1% Y-o-Y. The company‟s consolidated net debt has reduced to $ 9,697 Mn resulting in the Net Debt to EBITDA ratio (USD terms) improving to 2.18 times as compared to 2.59 times at the end of the same quarter last year.
In a statement, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman, Bharti Airtel Limited, said: “Mobile internet is now a major engine of growth for Airtel across all geographies. Our sustained investment in this segment will further enhance customer experience and seamless coverage. The revenue growth in Africa reflects the inherent potential in the world‟s most promising continent. I am also pleased to see the evolution of Airtel Money into a significant service in geographies which are relatively under-banked.”
Telecom
FG Plans EO to Criminalise Fiber Cable Damage Costing Telcos Billions
Nigeria will criminalize the destruction of broadband fiber cables following repeated complaints by MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and other telecommunications companies that they are losing billions of naira, according to people familiar with the matter.
Federal ministry of works, which supervises federal road constructors, is finalizing the regulation that will be signed as an executive order by President Bola Tinubu, said the people, asking not to be identified as they weren’t authorized to comment.
While there are presently laws against vandalism, the authorities are aiming to regulate construction firms more closely.
The order will enforce stiff penalties on offenders, said the people, declining to provide more details or say when it will be signed.
“Telecom assets are critical backbone that supports the economy across sectors,” said Temitope Ajayi, a senior presidential aide, who noted that the Association of Telecommunications Companies (ATCON) has been demanding the classification for years.
New rules will provide “further assurance that the Nigerian government will protect their investments against vandals and criminal elements.”
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) estimates that the sector will make up more than a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product by the end of 2027, up from 13.5% in the third quarter of last year.
The move will help alleviate pressure on the telecoms sector, which is facing increased operating costs and sales pressures from a sharp depreciation in the currency and a threefold increase in energy prices.
Repairs and revenue losses from damaged cables is estimated to have cost the sector almost 27 billion naira ($23 million) last year alone, documents seen by Bloomberg show.
MTN Nigeria, the biggest wireless operator in Africa’s most-populous nation, and Airtel Africa Plc bore the brunt of the costs, the documents show.
MTN suffered more than 6,000 cuts on its fiber cable last year, the documents show. On Feb. 28, a cut on its network in three different locations by a road construction firm, an oil serving company and someone burning rubbish in a manhole meant customers faced more than five hours of data and voice outages.
The operator relocated 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) of vulnerable fiber cables between 2022 and 2023, at a cost of more than 11 billion naira – enough to build 870 kilometers of new fiber lines to areas without coverage.
A presidential order on the matter would be welcomed, said Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere, president, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria.
“When it comes to communication infrastructure, they are destroyed at will, so we are eagerly awaiting the president’s order,” he said. “It would be a great boost to the industry, and it will also encourage investment.”
Telecom
Telegram Eyes 1Bn Users amidst Political Pressures
Telegram, the messaging giant founded by Pavel Durov and headquartered in Dubai, anticipates hitting a remarkable milestone of one billion active monthly users within the next year.
Durov’s departure from Russia in 2014, prompted by governmental pressures to stifle opposition communities on his VK social media platform, underscores Telegram’s commitment to neutrality despite geopolitical challenges.
With 900 million active users currently, Telegram stands as a beacon of free speech in the digital realm, particularly influential in former Soviet Union republics and pivotal during conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine standoff.
Durov’s staunch advocacy for freedom of expression and opposition to censorship by tech giants like Apple and Google reinforces Telegram’s status as a neutral platform.
Opting for the UAE as its base, Durov cites its neutrality and openness as conducive to Telegram’s ethos, serving both opposition groups and governments alike while maintaining impartiality.
In Durov’s vision, the pursuit of freedom eclipses material gain, shaping Telegram’s trajectory as a bastion of digital liberation.
Telecom
NITDA, NIMC Announce Collaboration To Strengthen Digital Economy
To further strengthen Nigeria’s digital economy in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) have announced a collaboration on National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to enhance and create synergy between digital identity, payment ecosystem, and secure & seemless data exchange capabilities for Nigeria.
During the meeting between the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, and Director General of NIMC, Engr. Bisoye Coker-Odusote, with some management staff of both organisations, they discussed various initiatives, which include building DPI stacks for a secured and seamless data exchange and forming partnerships to transform the national identity system.
This collaboration also aims to harness the potential of the innovative ecosystem and emphasise the use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to drive digital transformation in Nigeria.
To ensure a smooth implementation, a 12-man committee was set up. This committee will play a crucial role in kickstarting and harmonising the initiatives. It is expected to deliver a comprehensive implementation report within the next 4 weeks
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