Neotel, SA's second national fixed-line operator, grew its enterprise base 18% in the first half of the year, and added 30 000 consumer customers.
The operator, which is now six years old, this afternoon released abridged financial figures and said it grew revenue 10% in the six months to March in a market that is gaining about 4% each year, an indication it is taking market share.
Neotel now has 2 400 enterprise customers and 130 000 consumer subscribers, giving it around 6% of the local market. Telkom had less than three million fixed-lines at the end of March, the last time it released figures.
CEO and MD Sunil Joshi says if the company continues to gain more than a percent of the market a year, it will meet its target of between 14% and 16% of the market by the 2016/17 financial year.
Neotel, which turned positive on an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) basis in the second quarter of the 2012 financial year, has remained positive for the last year, says Joshi. Neotel improved Ebitda 276% in the first half of the year.
Joshi says Neotel aims to be earnings before interest and tax positive by the fourth quarter of the year, and then hit pre-tax profit by the last quarter of the next financial year.
Neotel, which has 12 000km of fibre around SA, has also recently completed long distance links between Johannesburg and Durban, and Johannesburg and Bloemfontein, giving it a national backbone. The group has also laid 6 500km of metro fibre.
The operator is majority owned by India-based Tata and has space on all of SA's five submarine cables, which give it access to Tata's 365 000km of underwater fibre, connecting 300 cities in 200 countries across six continents.
Share
