Suntel and Dialog Broadband to Merge Operations

Dialog » News » Suntel and Dialog Broadband to Merge Operations:

Dialog Broadband Networks Private Limited (DBN), a fully owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka’s premier mobile services provider Dialog Axiata PLC today entered in to a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) to acquire 100 percent of the ordinary shares of wireless fixed line operator Suntel Ltd from its current shareholders. The definitive execution of the acquisition will follow the satisfaction of conditions precedent to the transaction defined in the SPA. The successful consummation of the transaction during the course of the next few months is envisaged to lead to the merger of the operations of DBN and Suntel and the creation of a merged entity, providing advanced fixed line and broadband services to Sri Lankan consumers.

Suntel commandeers a premium position in Sri Lanka’s fixed telecommunications sector and is ranked second in the sector in terms of fixed telecommunications business and Revenue Market share. Suntel commenced operations in 1996 and is currently a subsidiary of Swedish telecom operator Overseas Telecom AB. Other shareholders of Suntel include NDB (National Development Bank PLC), C-Tech Investments (Private) Ltd, Kelmarsh Investments Ltd, Townsend Limited and International Finance Corporation (IFC).

“The Sri Lankan telecom sector after 15 years of robust growth is soliciting consolidation,” Jerry Huxtable, Managing Director of Suntel said. “Suntel is committed to providing a superior service to our loyal customer base, and today are at a point in our evolution where bullish and forward thinking investments are needed to elevate our broadband infrastructure to best in class standards.”

“I believe industry consolidation which crystallises economies of scale and brings together the shared effort and investment capacity of leading industry players is an optimum strategy to deliver enhanced value to consumers and the industry at large going forward. The agreement entered in to by our shareholders with DBN paves the way for a renewed thrust of investment in Sri Lanka’s fixed telecommunications and broadband sector which I believe will be of benefit to all stakeholders.”

Suntel’s fixed telecommunications infrastructure is based on a 382 base station strong network delivering fixed voice, broadband and data communication services using CDMA, WiMAX and other fixed wireless access technologies.

DBN, a fully owned subsidiary of Dialog Axiata PLC, was the 4th entrant to Sri Lanka’ fixed telecommunications sector in 2006 and has since consolidated a robust and rapidly growing position in the sector based on its portfolio of fixed telecommunications, broadband and optical fibre based transmission infrastructure services. Since becoming a member of the Dialog Axiata Group in 2006, the company has invested Rs 11.8Bn in the expansion of its fixed telecommunications and broadband infrastructure with a particular focus on the development of its optical fibre network which is being rolled out on a nationwide basis.

The share purchase agreement signed between DBN and the shareholders of Suntel envisages the transaction to be completed at an EV (Enterprise Value) in the range of USD 33.9Mn to USD 34.9Mn, corresponding to a Valuation Multiple of 3.0x- to 3.1x of FY10 EBITDA, subject to the outcome of confirmatory business valuation and due diligence during the period leading up to the completion of the transaction. The transaction, leading ultimately to the merger of Suntel with DBN will secure the distinction of being the single largest consolidation initiative within Sri Lanka’s Telecommunications sector. Following the entering in to of the SPA, parties to the transaction expressed their appreciation for the facilitation and enablement received from the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, the Board of Investment and agencies of the Ministry of Finance, and also for the execution support extended by advisors J.P. Morgan, MacQuarie Capital, Mannheimer Swartling, F.J. & G. De Sarams, Dr Shivaji Felix, John Wilson and escrow agents Standard Chartered Bank PLC.

Chairman of Dialog Broadband Networks and Group Chief Executive at Dialog Axiata PLC Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya commenting on the transaction said, “We are indeed privileged to have been afforded the opportunity to combine with Suntel through this beachhead industry consolidation initiative. Going forward, the combined strengths of DBN and Suntel will be synergised towards establishing a best in class infrastructure platform for the provision of high quality fixed telecommunications and broadband services which are expansive in their availability, and inclusive in terms of affordability to Sri Lankan citizens.”

“Our combined efforts will be focused on supporting the aspiration of the Government of Sri Lanka to enhance the affordability and availability of high quality broadband services. Accordingly, our expansion plans for the fixed telecommunications sector will target the establishment of an infrastructure and service proposition which is based on advanced technology, robust infrastructure featuring our rapidly expanding fibre optic network and excellent customer service. Suntel is a much admired service provider on Sri Lanka’s telecommunications landscape and will bring to the merger, very significant value in terms of a best in class fixed line operations framework, highly competent human capital and a longstanding customer base earned and retained through an impeccable record in service delivery. Through the combination of our strengths, we look forward to providing our mutual customers with unparalleled value and quality of service as we enter an exciting new era of broadband centric telecommunications development” Dr Wijayasuriya added.

As disclosed in a recent release of Financial Results of the Dialog Group for the 9 months ending September 2011, Dialog Broadband Networks reported Revenues and EBITDA of Rs 1.8Bn and Rs 456Mn respectively for the period under review. The combined operations of Suntel and DBN are accordingly envisaged to crystallise the formation of a strong second ranked player in the fixed telecommunications sector with a combined Revenue and Subscriber Market share of approximately 16% and 23% respectively.

Huawei and Telkomsel Joint Innovation Center Demonstrate LTE High Spectrum Efficiency

Global - Huawei - Press Releases:

[Bandung, Indonesia, 14 December 2011]: Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, today announced the opening of a new innovation centre and LTE demonstration in Bandung, in collaboration with Telkomsel, the leading operator in Indonesia. The Indonesian telecommunications ministry officials and Telkomsel executives witnessed LTE high spectrum efficiency. Using Huawei's SingleRAN LTE solution, the downlink data rate can reach up to 71.4Mb/s with 10 MHz bandwidth.

Huawei worked closely with Telkomsel on the construction of the new R&D facility to support on-demand high definition video, FTP throughput, live high-speed Internet, and digital shopping mall demonstrations.

Paul Michael Scanlan, Vice President of Huawei South Pacific said: "Based on customer-centric innovation, and by sharing intellectual property rights with the industry and complying with international IPR rules, Huawei has become the leading LTE industry player and a key contributor to LTE standards and patents".

"Huawei has established more than 20 joint innovation centers with global leading operators around the world, like this one with Telkomsel, and is now leading the strong development of the LTE industry in Indonesia by transforming advanced technologies into customer competitiveness and success in business," said Mr. Paul Scanlan.

As one of the fastest growing mobile broadband markets, the telecommunication sector in Indonesia has advanced at a rapid pace in the recent years. While the mobile broadband market continues to flourish with the growing pace of wireless data usage, operators around the world, including those in Indonesia, are all facing a common challenge of limited mobile network capacity and coverage.

Huawei, being Telkomsel's strategic partner, has already prepared Telkomsel for LTE by thoroughly implementing its SingleRAN products in its network.

With Huawei's SingleRAN LTE system, a peak date rate of 71.6 Mb/s was achieved using a channel bandwidth of 10MHz, and average throughput of over 70 Mb/s. Also, with Huawei's LTE system performance, over 10 MP3 songs can be downloaded in a second. Huawei also demonstrated 32 simultaneous HD videos running on the LTE system to show multi-user LTE performance.

Mr. Scanlan said: "Huawei Indonesia is deeply honored to collaborate together with Telkomsel in its innovation Center. We believe that the center will be an important platform not only for research and training purposes, but also to explore and develop other future promising applications and products that can help to create a better end-user experience."

According to the latest Evolution to LTE report released on October 12, 2011, by the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), out of the 35 commercial LTE networks launched globally, 18 of them use Huawei's end-to-end SingleRAN LTE solution.

Huawei's outstanding contribution to LTE standards and patents has played a pivotal role in the company gaining the lead in global LTE commercialization. As the largest contributor to LTE standards and patents in the industry since 2010, Huawei submitted more than 7,900 LTE/EPC (Evolved Packet Core) contributions to 3G Partnership Project (3GPP), including more than 230 approved contributions of LTE Core Specification.

Huawei is committed to helping operators worldwide to maximize the efficiency of its assets, and ultimately, to help operators achieve commercial success. LTE will undoubtedly be the mobile operators' best choice to further develop its mobile broadband capabilities.

Nokia Siemens Networks to enable combined CDMA and LTE service in Japan | Nokia Siemens Networks

Nokia Siemens Networks to enable combined CDMA and LTE service in Japan | Nokia Siemens Networks:

Nokia Siemens Networks is implementing its Circuit Switched Fallback (CSFB) technology to enable CDMA and LTE technologies to work together in KDDI’s network in Japan. The deployment will allow KDDI to use its existing CDMA network to continue delivering high-quality voice services while maximizing the efficiency of its newly deployed LTE network. Nokia Siemens Networks provided the CDMA network, and is supplying and deploying KDDI’s LTE radio network. KDDI expects to launch LTE services by the end of 2012.

"We require a high-quality voice solution for our subscribers, one that uses the inherent capabilities and value of our existing nationwide CDMA network, while working in unison with our planned nationwide LTE network,” said Toshihiko Yumoto, vice president and general manager, network technical development division, technology sector at KDDI. “Nokia Siemens Networks’ ability to deliver a high-quality end-to-end CSFB solution on time, coupled with its technology expertise means that our customers will benefit from continued high-quality voice and in future, high-speed data services."

"CDMA is recognized for its high voice quality and high call capacity,” said Scott Mottonen, head of the CDMA/LTE business line at Nokia Siemens Networks. “Until LTE technology matures and Voice over LTE (VoLTE) has been optimized, CDMA will fully meet subscribers’ expectations while increasing KDDI’s return on network investment. The operator will be able to maximize the effectiveness of its LTE network bandwidth delivering high-speed data services, while high-quality voice services are carried on the CDMA network, making this approach a win-win for KDDI and its subscribers alike."

Nokia Siemens Networks’ CDMA-LTE CSFB solution is implemented via software on the existing CDMA 1X system, which interfaces with KDDI’s LTE network. Exhaustive trials of end-to-end CSFB have already been successfully conducted and the nationwide deployment will be completed by mid 2012. This ensures readiness of end-to-end CSFB functionality in anticipation of KDDI’s commercial LTE network launch later in 2012.

Telstra extends reach in key Asian markets - Media Announcement – About Telstra

Telstra extends reach in key Asian markets - Media Announcement – About Telstra:

Telstra today announced it had successfully secured new operating licences in Singapore and Japan, allowing it to own infrastructure facilities and be directly responsible for services delivered to customers locally in both countries. The announcement follows the recent award of three licences to provide customers in India with international long-distance telecommunications and ISP services.

In Singapore, Telstra has secured the Facilities Based Operator (FBO) licence offered by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) to own and operate telecommunications infrastructure such as voice and data networks, systems and facilities locally. It will also enable Telstra to build the local backbone required to support its plans for new cable submarine capacity to Singapore.

In Japan, Telstra Japan K.K. has been approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (the “MIC”) for the Registration Type licence. The licence allows Telstra to own and operate large scale telecoms circuits and facilities in multiple cities and prefectures in Japan, along with products and services delivered over those facilities and networks.

The recent award of licenses in India will see Telstra begin with services in seven cities - Bangalore, Calcutta, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune - offering customers a resilient, cost effective, flexible network that is tailored to suit individual business needs within the next six months. Mumbai and Chennai will be Telstra’s Indian international gateways connecting into its world-class international backbone network, providing customers with direct routes into networks in Europe and Asia.

According to Mr Tarek Robbiati, Group Managing Director for Telstra International Group (TIG), these developments allow Telstra International to further realise synergies and leverage assets gained following the Reach restructure and will benefit international customers with multi-country operations in Asia.

“For international customers, Telstra will now have greater control over its services. Specifically customers will enjoy access to a more comprehensive suite of connectivity and managed services, better network performance, complete monitoring, local contract billing capabilities, and in-country service centre support. In addition, Telstra will have greater control over network architecture design, and be in a strong position to optimise performance, multi-level resiliency, redundancy and reliability,” Mr Robbiati said.

Telstra International operates one of the largest and most diverse networks in Asia Pacific. Securing the licences in India, Singapore and Japan marks a key milestone in realising Telstra’s goal to be Asian specialists with world leading services.

CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY FOR THOUSANDS OF KIWI KIDS

Primary schools throughout New Zealand got an early dose of festive cheer as the first shipment of Kiwi books donated by Telecom and Scholastic arrived on their doorstep.

In all, some 10,000 books were donated under Telecom’s ‘Bills to Storybooks’ initiative with 1,802 primary schools across the country receiving free copies of well known Kiwi classics such as Little Yellow Digger, There’s a Hole in my Bucket, and Grandma McGarvey.

Jason Paris, Chief Marketing Officer at Telecom, said that the response from Telecom’s customers had been overwhelming.

“We’re absolutely thrilled with how our customers have got behind this initiative to support reading at their local schools.

“Since we launched the campaign back in September, more than 10,000 of our customers opted to switch to online billing and nominated a primary school to receive a storybook. This is a great result for Kiwi kids throughout New Zealand and the success of the campaign also means that we’ve been able to significantly reduce the amount of paper used to print customer’s bills,” he said.

Scholastic New Zealand provided a cross section of some 100 books written by New Zealand authors to be delivered to primary schools in time for Christmas.

Scholastic New Zealand’s General Manager, Neil Welham said: “We firmly believe that promoting a love of reading amongst young children has massive benefits for their development. The Bills to Storybooks initiative is a fantastic and innovate way of doing this and we’re delighted to have partnered with Telecom in bringing this about.”

The Bills to Storybooks campaign also provided Telecom customers a chance to help write a collaborative children’s story with award-winning children’s author Kyle Mewburn, and illustrator, Donovan Bixley. Customers who switched to online billing were invited to contribute a line with the eleven best lines being used in the storybook to be launched in February next year.

All the royalties from the sale of the new collaborative book will go to the Telecom Foundation to support charitable and community-based initiatives that contribute to a better future for Kiwi kids.

New seniors’ phone launches just in time for Christmas - Media Announcement – About Telstra

New seniors’ phone launches just in time for Christmas - Media Announcement – About Telstra:

Telstra has unveiled its latest mobile phone designed specifically to suit the needs of older Australians, the Telstra EasyTouch® Discovery 3.

Telstra Consumer Marketing Director, Maryanne Tsiatsias said this latest model was designed and tested by Telstra Connected Seniors – a tailored program created to help older Australians learn more about technology – and the Telstra Disability Forum.

“Successor to the EasyTouch® Discovery 2, Telstra has worked for more than six months designing and refining this mobile phone, to ensure it offers customers the features they want and need to stay connected with their family and loved ones.

“Our customers told us that they wanted a simpler menu for easier navigation, and our new model gives them exactly that, so older Australians can get to the core functions they need, quickly and with minimal fuss.

“Keeping the flip-phone form factor of its predecessor, the user interface on the Easy Touch® Discovery 3 has been further enhanced. Customers now can easily view both missed calls and also new messages by simply opening the phone - the interface is intelligent and jumps straight to these new events, without the hassle of having to navigate through multiple menus.

“Telstra’s EasyTouch® Discovery 3 also retains some of the most popular features from previous models, including a handy ‘how to’ DVD, hearing aid compatibility, big buttons, big font and audible key tones, so customers can hear the numbers that are typing and make sure they are dialing the right number.”

Ms Tsiatsias said while the Telstra EasyTouch® Discovery 3 was designed with simplicity and ease of use in mind, it still included the extra features customers want.

"Despite its focus on accessibility, the EasyTouch® Discovery 3 also features a few high-tech features you would expect from a modern mobile phone, including an inbuilt three mega-pixel camera, integrated MP3 Player, hands-free speaker phone and a 32GB expandable memory card slot.”

The Easy Touch® Discovery 3 also comes with Telstra’s Blue Tick, which means it delivers superior handheld coverage in regional and rural coverage areas.

“Teamed with the Telstra Next G® network – which provides more than twice the coverage of the next largest Australian 3G network – the EasyTouch® Discovery 3 is ideal for Australians living in the city and in regional Australia,” Ms Tsiatsias said.

Andrew Penn appointed Chief Financial Officer - Media Announcement – About Telstra

Andrew Penn appointed Chief Financial Officer - Media Announcement – About Telstra:

Telstra today announced that Andrew Penn has been appointed Chief Financial Officer and Group Managing Director, Finance, from 1 March 2012.

Mr Penn is an experienced chief executive and chief financial officer with a career spanning more than thirty years, the past twenty at AXA Asia Pacific in a variety of finance, strategy and executive roles, most recently Group Chief Executive.

“I am delighted to welcome Andy to this critical position. Andy has extensive experience in Australia and overseas, a proven track record of success as a Chief Financial Officer, and a demonstrated ability to create shareholder value in complex businesses,” Chief Executive Officer David Thodey said.

Mr Penn was Group CEO of AXA Asia Pacific from 2006 until 2011. Over twenty years at AXA he held a variety of roles including CEO of the Australia and New Zealand business, Chief Operations Officer, Head of Transformation, and Chief Executive of Asia. He previously held roles at the P&O Shipping Group.

Most of Mr Penn’s previous roles have had strong corporate finance responsibilities. He has successfully led value-adding transactions in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North America and across Asia.

Mr Penn will be a member of Telstra’s CEO leadership team and will report to Mr Thodey. He will be based in Melbourne.

“I am looking forward to joining the team at Telstra and I am very excited by this great opportunity in a dynamic industry,” Mr Penn said.

Telstra also announced that Mark Hall will be acting Chief Financial Officer and Group Managing Director, Finance, from 1 January to 29 February 2012. Mr Hall is currently Deputy CFO.

Mr Thodey thanked retiring CFO, John Stanhope, for his service to the company over a career spanning more than four decades, including eight years as Chief Financial Officer and Group Managing Director, Finance & Administration.

“On behalf of his colleagues, I would like to acknowledge John’s enormous contribution to our company over four decades, and wish him and his family the very best for the future,” Mr Thodey concluded.

Kcell Warns of Cases of Mobile Fraud

Kcell Warns of Cases of Mobile Fraud

13 December 2011, Almaty - Mobile operator GSM Kazakhstan with trademarks Kcell Activ, and Vegaline informs about the increased cases of telephone fraud with the use of cellular communication and service of short messages. The Company warns the subscribers and informs about the used schemes of frauds.

For example, in recent times, some subscribers of cellular communication began to receive the SMS, which informed that the number of the recipient had supposedly won the competition and a subscriber became the owner of a new phone from the manufacturer or a car from one of the car dealers. In a message a subscriber is requested to get “registered”, for which it is necessary to make a call to a specified number. Further, a subscriber, who has made a call to the specified number, is informed that in order to get the prize he/she should send a message, providing for the codes of the recharge cards of various values. GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell recommends the subscribers, who have received such messages, to clear up if such a promo action is carried out in fact by contacting Kcell, including at: www.kcell.kz/help. Often the companies, on whose behalf the messages come, do not really have any relation to such information. Fraudsters, knowing the high business reputation of such companies, use their names (brands, trade marks) to mislead the subscribers. It should be kept in mind that the companies, conducting the promo actions, do not ask for money transfer, including the codes of payment cards.

Based on the other popular fraud scheme, a subscriber receives a call from a stranger, who announces that his or her close relative or a friend is arrested by the law enforcement authorities in connection with commitment of the road traffic incident (or conflict, hooliganism, theft, etc.). A caller mentions the phone number, which a certain amount should be transferred to, and then the allegedly detained relative or friend would be set free. In such cases, it will be required first to try to immediately contact a relative or a friend, reportedly in distress, or to get information about him/her from reliable sources. If the fraudster introduces himself as a relative (friend/colleague), it will be required to ask him a few clarifying questions, the answers to which could determine whether the caller is what he/she pretends to be. It will be also required to bear in mind that the fraudsters often use the data from social networking websites and sometimes can answer some common questions. For example, they may know the place of residence, car model, family status, names of relatives and other data.

“In accordance with the law, the mobile operator is not authorized to perform any activities with respect to numbers, from which short messages of the questionable content are sent, or there are made the calls with false information. The fight against fraud is an area of responsibility of law enforcement bodies. On our part, we are always ready to assist the law enforcement agencies in the carrying out of operative-search and investigative measures, - said Aida Dossayeva, Director for Corporate Communications of GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell. – “Within the framework of the Kcell program for mobile fraud prevention, we do focus on the information campaign, governing by the principle ‘warned is armed’”.

To this end, Kcell has been active in the field of improving the mobile literacy of subscribers. Within the Customer Relations Department there was established a fraud control unit, which registers the addresses of subscribers by frauds, as well as conducts monitoring and analysis of the types of mobile fraud.

In view of the fact that the problem of mobile fraud continually gains in scope and is becoming more socially sounding, GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell has created a special section on corporate websites www.kcell.kz (http://www.kcell.kz/ru/?l=fraud) and www.activ.kz (http://www.activ.kz/ru/?l=fraud), which display the examples of the most popular schemes of mobile fraud, tips, how not to fall victim to scams, as well as the recommendations of what to do if a subscriber has been caught trick by malefactors.

GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell calls subscribers when they are confronted with fraud to display vigilance, to take up active civil position and apply to the law enforcement authorities. To resist the fraudsters may take place provided only that the users of cellular communication, operators and law enforcement authorities combine their efforts.

"Only a small part of the affected subscribers turn to law enforcement authorities or to the communication operator, allowing the fraudsters to continue their activities. Unfortunately, mobile fraud continues to exist, and to date one of effective solutions for subscribers is not to give way to malefactors and do not respond to messages and calls of dubious nature, received from unknown numbers. We ask subscribers to inform on every case of doubt to our reference and information service, as well as to recheck information on marketing promotions and drawings, mentioned in the SMS”, added Aida Dossayeva, Director for Corporate Communications of GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell.

Telstra first with the groundbreaking Samsung Galaxy Nexus - Media Announcement

Telstra first with the groundbreaking Samsung Galaxy Nexus - Media Announcement

Telstra customers will be the first in Australia to get their hands on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus™ smartphone which goes on sale from select Telstra stores and online tomorrow.

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the first smartphone in the world to feature Google’s new Android™ 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system which brings an entirely new look and feel to Android™.

Andrew Volard, Director, Telstra Mobile, said the pre-Christmas launch of Galaxy Nexus ™ on the Telstra Mobile Network would see people around Australia re-writing their wish lists.

“Telstra customers have been counting down to the launch of the world’s first Android 4.0 smartphone and we’re delighted to be able to offer this groundbreaking device ahead of Christmas. Our customers are going to love the beautifully redesigned Android 4.0 operating system which features a more modern user interface, resizable widgets and improved web browsing and multitasking. The super-thin Galaxy Nexus with its extraordinarily vivid 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display is the perfect smartphone to experience Google’s most intuitive operating system yet.

“Our customers will also enjoy superior web browsing on the Galaxy Nexus thanks to Telstra’s HSPA+ mobile download speeds. Customers can pull down web pages faster, stream video with less buffering, and access their social networks more quickly,” Mr Volard said.

Vice President of Telecommunications at Samsung Electronics Australia, Tyler Mcgee, said "Samsung is delighted to introduce a new addition in the highly successful GALAXY family to Australian consumers. The GALAXY Nexus is the first Australian handset to feature Android 4.0 (Ice cream Sandwich), bringing an entirely new look and feel to the popular operating system."

Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd Announces Financial Results for the Third Quarter Ended September 30, 2011

SSTL’s mobile subscriber base increased by 13% quarter-on-quarter and reached 13.27 million customers as of30th September, 2011. The growth in subscriber base of the company was largely driven by further strengthening of the distribution network, an increase in its retail universe across India and increased contribution from newly launched circles. Mobile subscribers’ MoU for Q3 2011 declined to 291 min vs. 294 min in Q2 2011; the decline in MoU was mainly because of the decreasing share of free on-net minutes and also due to seasonal dip in the subscriber’s activity.

Industry net subscriber addition in Q3 2011 dipped further to 22 million compared to 39.9 million in Q2 2011. Total subscriber base reached 874 million and wireless tele-density was 73% at the end of Q3 2011. SSTL’s subscriber market share increased to 1.52% in Q3 2011 (vs. 1.38% in Q2 2011).

SSTL reported an OIBDA loss of INR 4,584 million for Q3 2011, reflecting an improvement in OIBDA margin by 132 p.p. Y-o-Y, margins improved as a result of 125% revenue growth over Q3 2010, the revenue growth was driven by 100% increase in subscriber base over Q3 2010. By the end of Q3 2011, SSTL’s high speed mobile data services cover more than 200 cities in India, including all five metros. The number of data subscribers increased by 30% over Q2 2011 to 1.07 million.

SSTL’s bottom line during the quarter was impacted by increased forex charges. The Rupee has depreciated considerably against Dollar and other foreign currencies thus resulting in increased forex charges on long term Foreign Currency denominated loans.

Sergey Savchenko, Chief Financial Officer of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd., commented, “One of the key highlights of our Q3-2011 results is that our Non Voice Revenue growth continues to be higher than the industry. Contribution of Non Voice Revenues to overall revenues increased to 32% during the current quarter, an increase of 3.4 p.p. over the last quarter. During the quarter our blended mobile ARPU increased in contrast to a declining trend in the market, this is again a strong reflection of our continued efforts to target quality customers.”