Robi posts growth in revenue, subscriber base in July-September

Mobile-phone operator Robi Axiata Limited has posted growth in its revenue and subscriber base.

The company’s Managing Director and CEO Supun Weerasinghe announced the financial results for the July-September period at a media conference on Sunday.

The mobile-phone operator’s subscriber base grew by 3.1 million in January-September this year to 28.4 million, including one million in the July-September quarter, according to Weerasinghe.

The figure represents 21.6 percent of the total number of subscribers in the country.

The firm registered 6.7 percent year-on-year revenue growth in this period. The growth was 3.5 percent quarter-on-quarter basis.

Weerasinghe said its revenue from data increased by over 100 percent.

He said the growth was a result of investing in offers and expanding the network.

“We are witnessing an impressive growth in data services since the beginning of the year as we expanded our 3.5G network across the country,” he said.

“We are investing significantly in network expansion to give the best in class 2.5G and 3.5G mobile experience to our valued customers,” he added.

He said the quality of service will only get better and the network widen further once Airtel merges with Robi.

The two operators sought the BTRC’s permission for the merger in September.

Weerasinghe said it will take at least a year to complete the merger of networks and subscribers.

He also said he thought the company’s revenue would drop by two to three percent as data usage has dropped by 30 percent with Facebook and some apps being blocked in Bangladesh for security reasons.