Econet ARPU falling

The number of new subscribers for Econet Wireless only increased marginally by 393 from June to December last year but its turnover for the six months was more than that for the full year ending June.

Its average revenue per user is, however, falling in US dollar terms. It fell from US$34 in December 2000 to US$7 last December.

Sales increased from $2.5 billion in the six months to December 2001 to $7.2 billion in the six months to December 2002. Turnover for the year ending June last year was $6.1 billion.

Net profit for the six months to December last year was $1.2 billion compared with $1 billion for the year ending June and $185.9 million for the first half ending December 2001.

The company says it took a deliberate position not to take on new subscribers, preferring to upgrade its network and reduce congestion and the quality of service across the entire network.

The company is, however, still saddled with a huge debt. Though it reduced the debt in inflation adjusted terms from $3.9 billion to $1.6 billion, the debt increased marginally from $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion in historical terms.

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