Ncell H1 net sales up 13.22 percent

NCELL’S net sales increased by 13.22 percent in the first half of 2013 compared to same period last year. TeliaSonera, Ncell’s parent, has said its Nepal

unit’s net sales reached 1,507 million Swedish kroner (SEK) — equivalent to Rs 21.7 billion — at the end of second quarter (Q2). In the same period last year, the net sales of Ncell were recorded at SEK 1,331 million with the subscriber base reaching 8.1 million. In its second quarter report, TeliaSonera said the number of Ncell’s subscribers reached 10.3 million, including 10.2 pre-paid GSM mobile users. Ncell’s user base had crossed the 10-million mark during the Q2. “In Nepal, we reached a new milestone by passing 10 million subscriptions,” said TeliaSonera CEO Per-Arne Blomquist in a statement on Wednesday. According to him, organic revenue growth remained around 14 percent in Eurasia, supported by increasing data consumption and subscription growth. The Eurasian markets of TeliaSonera includes Ncell , Kcell in Kazakshstan, Azercell in Azerbaijan, Ucell in Uzbekistan, Tcell in Tajikistan, Geocell in Georgia and Moldcell in Moldova. In the second quarter, Ncell’s data revenue grew by a significant 94 percent. Data earnings accounted for 6 percent of the total revenue for the quarter. Ncell has been offering different data packages aggressively to customers to increase its share in the data market. Currently, the company has been providing “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” scheme which enables customers buying a monthly pack of 10MB and above to get the same volume of data for free. “Our schemes and the growth in the number of smartphone users helped increase data user numbers,” said Milam Sharma, corporate communications expert, Ncell. The Nepal Telecommunications Authority’s Management Information System report shows Ncell has 3.4 million subscribers of data services — GPRS, EDGE and 3G. In the total data market, Ncell commands a 52 percent share, followed by Nepal Telecom (46 percent). Although the number of Ncell data users is increasing, the company has witnessed a decline in the growth of mobile service subscription. Ncell added 2.2 million new mobile subscribers during the one-year period between July 2012 and June 2013, against a subscription of 2.7 million in the July 2011-June 2012 period. In total, net sales of TeliaSonera decreased by 4.2 percent to SEK 49,816 million compared to SEK 51,987 million during first half of 2012. The company’s total number of subscribers increased by 9.5 million in last year to reach 183.6 million. It is one of the leading European telecommunication companies that operate services in over 20 markets, including the Nordic and Baltic countries, the Eurasia and Spain. TeliaSonera, Ncell’s parent, has said its Nepal unit’s net sales reached 1,507 million Swedish kroner (Rs 21.7 billion) at the end of the second quarter