The largest telecoms operator in Indonesia by subscribers and revenues, Telkom Indonesia has posted sales of IDR51.3 trillion (USD6 billion) for the first nine months of 2011, up 3.3% year-on-year. Turnover was boosted by a significant rise in mobile subscribers over the period, from 93.1 million to 104.1 million. However, net income slipped almost 7% to IDR8.3 billion on the back of higher costs, including IDR692 billion of non-recurring payments to some employers to take early retirement. Telkom is reportedly still hopeful of raising its stake in Telkomsel to 100%; to do so it would need to agree terms with SingTel for the purchase of the Singaporean company’s 35% holding in the wireless operator.