|
Star Telecom rings up profits in 2011
A leading national telecom provider, Star Telecom Co Ltd, has reported increased revenue in 2011 – three percent above the company's target.
“Star Telecom received around 883 billion kip (US$110 million) in revenue before tax last year,” company representative Mr Bimoua Phaidayiacha reported yesterday.
“This equates to almost two times our revenue in 2010,” he pointed out at the company's annual meeting in Vientiane, which was attended by officials from ministries and Star Telecom.
The increase in revenue was attributed to the company's expanding services, including base stations, dealers, service units and optic fibre installations.
Mr Bimoua said the company made a profit of 241 billion kip (US$30 million) after tax contributions, which were about 2.5 times more than in 2010.
Star Telecom paid about 217 billion kip (US$27 million) in tax in 2011, about 3 percent more than the company's target, according to a press release. The tax contributions were about 1.7 times higher than in 2010.
The press release also mentioned that the company now has 1,885 staff, 1.5 times more than in 2010. It also has more than 2,000 base stations, including 800 2G base stations and 500 3G stations.
The company has about 1.8 million subscribers or customers, including 1.6 million mobile, cordless and fixed line telephone customers, according to the press release.
“The company had 42 percent of the mobile phone market share in 2011, up from 35 percent in 2010,” Mr Bimoua said.
Star Telecom has also undertaken projects and community assistance activities, including Internet installation in 615 schools and education centres, worth over 24 billion kip (US$3 million). The company also held an essay writing contest for students at a cost of 241 million kip (US$30,000).
It has donated computers to schools for the disabled in Vientiane worth over 20 million kip (US$25,000), and helped to provide telecom services for poor people and students in the southern provinces of Champassak, Xekong, Attapeu and Saravan worth over 1 billion kip (US$130,000).
Star Telecom is a joint venture between Lao Asia Telecom State Enterprise, which has a 51 percent shareholding, and Viettel Global of Vietnam.
Laos has four telecom operators: Lao Telecommunications Company, Enterprise of Telecommunications Lao, Star Telecom and VimpelCom Lao Co Ltd.
vientiane times
|
