Beeline, the Uzbek arm of Russian telecoms giant Vimpelcom, has booked an 88% year-on-year increase in operational income to USD167 million for the three months ended 30 June 2013. The cellco registered a 45% annual increase in subscribers to 10.202 million users, driven primarily by the forced closure of the nation’s former leading operator, MTS Uzbekistan, in Q3 2012. EBITDA for the period under review reached USD108 million from USD45 million a year earlier, whilst CAPEX for the quarter totalled USD35 million.
Director general of Beeline, Andrei Safronyuk noted that the company had improved quality of services (QoS) by installing additional equipment and expanding communication channels to keep up with demand, following the influx of former MTS subscribers. He added that the company will continue its work on installation and launch of new base stations across Uzbekistan in 2013.