Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (April 21): Celcom Axiata Bhd's chief said the Malaysian mobile telecommunication industry's profit margin erosion was inevitable amid intense competition.

As such, Celcom chief executive officer Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly said the company was undertaking various "smart-spending" and "cost-saving" measures to support its bottom line.

"We have to be very rational, and not be drawn into a spiralling price war," he said at a media briefing on Celcom's new mobile Internet data plan here today.

Shazalli conceded that Celcom could experience a slight dip in average revenue per user (ARPU) for the second quarter of 2016 as customers switched from voice to data services.

He, however, said Celcom's ARPU would rise as data usage increased.

"Yes, but this is a double-edged answer, there will be a downward switch in ARPU, particularly when customers migrate from voice to data.

"But the monetisation will start when more customers start using more data. We are seeing that already, on those who embark with our data plan last year, the increase in ARPU correlates with the consumption of data," he explained.

Celcom is the Malaysian unit of Axiata Group Bhd, which also has operations in countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh.

At noon market break today, Axiata shares settled flat at RM5.85 for a market value of RM51.88 billion. The stock saw 616,000 shares traded.

 

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