Denpasar (Antara Bali) - Indonesia`s largest cellular phone operator PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel) posted Rp.60 trillion in income in 2013 or an increase of 10.1 percent on-year.
The growth was above the average recorded by the country`s telecommunication industry, which grew only 7 percent in the same year, Telkomsel`s president Alex J. Sinaga said.
The subsidiary of the state telecommunications company PT Telkom also recorded a strong growth of 10.4 percent in net profit and 10 percent in EBTIDA, Alex said here on Tuesday.
He attributed the growth mainly to digital division including broadband data service and contribution from legacy business mainly voice and Short Message Service (SMS).
He said data and digital services as the driving motor for growth accounted for 20 percent of the company`s income in 2013.
The potential for growth is still high for the services in the future as smartphone penetration is still low at around 20 percent in Indonesia especially with the various bundling programs launched by Telkomsel, he said.
In 2013, Telkomsel recorded 6.4 million new subscribers bringing the total number of its subscribers to 131.5 million or an increase of 5.1 percent from the previous year.
Demand for data service is strong resulting in an increase in number of data subscribers to 60.5 million , up 10.8 percent from the previous year.
The number of subscribers of Telkomsel Flash also rose significantly by 56.4 percent to 17.3 million and BlackBerry service subscribers increased 31.1 percent to 7.6 million.
"In 2013, Telkomsel took a number of strategic steps to expand networks such as with additional investment in 3G carrier (2,100 MHz) and building more Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) in various areas all over Indonesia," he said.
Strong performance in 2013 would serve to boost growth in 2014, he added.
"We will focus on expanding ecosystem of DNA (Device, Network & Applications) to boost digital service growth," he said.
The quality of Telkomsel`s services in 2013, was recognized nationally and internationally with 55 tokens of appreciation from various national and international institutions such as Wireless Service Provider of The Year. (WDY)
