Celcom Axiata confident of increasing its coverage to 85 per cent by year end
KUALA LUMPUR: Celcom Axiata Bhd is confident of increasing its LTE (4G mobile network) population coverage to 85 per cent by year-end from the current 77 per cent, said chief executive officer (CEO), Michael Kuehner.
He said the company had allocated RM1.5 billion as capital expenditure (capex), of which RM400 million was utilised during the first two quarters of 2017.
“Our capex remains at RM1.5 billion for this year, and we are investing around RM1 billion for ongoing network expansion, which is within the approved budget,” he said during a media briefing on Celcom’s second quarter business update yesterday.
Kuehner said the telco company’s quarterly performance showed positive signs of further stabilisation in an increasingly saturated industry.
He noted that Celcom had improved in terms of addressing consumers’ needs, and the company had streamlined its financial and operational management.
On the recent spectrum refarming project, Kuehner said Celcom had formed a high-calibre crossfunctional team, ahead of the deadline set by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
The team completed the first phase of the project delivered in March and the second at endJune.
“The telecommunication spectrum refarming of the 900MHz and 1800MHz frequencies will enhance network services at affordable rates in the urban and rural areas,” he said, adding, the exercise covered 7,400 sites in six regions.
Meanwhile, chief financial officer, Jennifer Wong said the ongoing cost optimisation efforts under the company’s transformational “Accelerated Cost Efficiency” programme was expected to strengthen the company’s profitability.
Celcom posted higher service revenue and total revenue quarter-on-quarter in increasing 1.4 per cent to RM1.495 billion and 0.7 per cent to RM1.621 billion, respectively.