Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) has reported that its regional mobile subscriber base grew by 3.7 million customers to reach 78.0 million at the end of 2005. The telco claims that it has more wireless subscribers in Asia outside of China than any other company (although the proportional subscriber base stood at only 30.6 million). The bulk of the increase can be attributed to operations in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, where the telco has a presence via associated companies. Its other markets, Singapore and Australia, accounted for only 5% of the growth. SingTel also reported that domestically it had 55,000 3G customers in December.
SingTel reports financial results tomorrow for the quarter ending December 2005. Analysts forecast only marginal growth in net profit as market erosion for Optus in Australia offsets gains elsewhere.