Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) said on May 8 that its mobile subscribers grew by a record 12 million in the first quarter to top 124 million users at the end of March, the largest such base in Asia outside of China.
"It marks the fourth consecutive quarter that the number of regional mobile subscribers has increased at a record pace," SingTel said in a statement.
"This is the largest mobile customer base in Asia outside of China," the Telecommunications Company said. Compared to a year ago, the number of mobile users increased by 46 percent or 39 million subscribers, said SingTel.
The increase was driven by SingTel's regional mobile associates especially in India and Indonesia where the fast growing markets have further scope to expand.
Bharti of India signed another record 5.2 million mobile users in the first quarter to bring its overall base to 37 million at the end of March while Indonesia's Telkomsel added 3.3 million users to 39.9 million.
In Australia, wholly owned SingTel Optus successfully defended its position in the highly competitive market as it added 60,000 customers during the quarter to increase its base to 6.74 million.
At home in Singapore, SingTel's mobile users rose by 56,000 during the first quarter to 1.82 million. SingTel gave no other figures for its other Asian markets in Thailand, the Philippines, and Bangladesh.
The telecom firm, majority owned by state-linked investment firm Temasek Holdings, owns stakes in several regional mobile operators as part of a strategy to tap fast growing markets in Asia and reduce reliance on its home market of four million.