Telecom Lead Middle East: 3G and 4G Internet have assisted Zain to post $1.06 billion revenue in first quarter 2013.
Zain Group’s net income rose 3 percent q-o-q to $184 million in the first quarter of 2013
Zain on Thursday said it has made substantial investments in both 3G and 4G. As a result, the operator revealed that its data revenues increased 14 percent in the first quarter.
Zain launched nationwide 4G LTE in Kuwait and posted customer growth of 9 percent.
In Bahrain, according to Zain, mobile customer base grew 30 percent after launching 4G / LTE.
In Saudi Arabia, Zain said in a statement, 4G / LTE network and marketing campaigns contribute to 32 percent customer growth and 17 percent revenue growth.
The percentage growth in data revenues is more significant and promising for Zain when one considers that a large number of the Group’s customers do not yet have smartphones and are located in rural areas across several countries that are vast in their geographies.
Zain added 3.9 million new active customers over the past twelve months to serve 44.1 million, up 10 percent. Zain added 1.4 million customers in the first quarter.
Zain, the market leader in six of its eight telecom operations, said the group is observing reduction in the gap between the revenues of traditional voice and data.
The Middle East telecom player noted that its association with Vodafone enables the company to compete effectively against OTT players by providing customers access to technology and services in a shorter period of time.
Asaad Al Banwan, chairman of Zain Group, said: “Our investment in expanding and upgrading our 3G and 4G networks across our markets are paying off and continual attention to such areas is necessary to maintain the company’s growth momentum.”
