A week in tech

Singapore/Malaysia/Philippines/Indonesia
Telecommunications
• Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) announced that its year to March net profit posted a 27.4 percent rise to S$4.1 billion ($2.6 billion) compared with S$3.2 billion ($2 billion) the year before. The company ascribed this growth to strong contributions from most of its overseas operations. A top official also indicated that its regional mobile associates are the group’s growth engines, with their contributions rising by 32 percent to S$1.6 billion ($1 billion). SingTel said it expects those earnings to continue growing at double-digit rates. In a separate report, SingTel announced that its Asia-Pacific mobile customer base had gone beyond the 85-million mark by the end of March. Attributing the increase to a growth in India and Indonesia, SingTel said the figure indicated a 31-percent rise from March last year. SingTel said that Bharti, its Indian associate, posted a 78-percent rise in its mobile subscriber growth, with Indonesia’s Telkomsel registering a 51-percent rise in subscription. SingTel's wholly owned Australian subsidiary SingTel Optus reported a gain of 189,000 customers, a figure that boosted its mobile subscriber base to 6.4 million, representing a 10-percent rise from a year ago. With associate companies in Bangladesh, the Philippines and Thailand, SingTel said it has retained its dominant position in the Singapore market, with subscribers registering a 5.7 percent growth to 1.6 million, of which around 130,000 are users of 3G-mobile technology.

• Telecom Asia said it has selected Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) as the "best emerging market carrier" for the third straight year. The award was given during the recent 2006 Telecom Asia Awards. The Philippine telco won in the emerging market category based on its financial performance, market leadership, innovation and corporate governance. Telecom Asia cited PLDT for the sharp turnaround of its business over the past three years and the significant growth in its profits and cash flow. PLDT was also nominated for best telecom carrier in Asia and its subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. was nominated for best mobile carrier in the region. Telecom Asia explained that the winners were chosen on their combined financial, market and technology strengths based on financial analysis and assessments of an 18-member judging panel.

Mobile/Wireless
• Globe Telecom of the Philippines announced that it added a net 793,000 subscribers in the first quarter, as the company launched promotions aimed at expanding its market share. Globe saw first quarter results of 13.2 million mobile-phone subscribers, up from 12.4 million at the end of 2005, according to data from a statement issued by Singapore Telecommunications on its performance in the fiscal year ended March 31. A SingTel affiliate, Globe’s first-quarter subscriber growth marks the company's strongest performance in five quarters, and comes in at the same level as the net addition recorded in the fourth quarter of 2004.

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