Indonesia's Indosat subscribers seen at 40 mln by yr-end

Indonesia’s Indosat subscribers seen at 40 mln by yr-end

Indosat has 37.8 million subscribers.

August 25, 2010 11:46 by Reuters

PT Indosat, Indonesia’s No. 2 mobile phone operator, on Wednesday said it sees similar subscriber growth in the second half as in the first, putting the year-end number at about 40 million, or up a fifth from 2009.

Among the three main players in the mobile phone market, Indosat has 37.8 million subscribers, well behind PT Telkomsel, a subsidiary of PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia with 88 million, but ahead of PT XL Axiata with 35 million.

“I’m pretty sure 40 million is a reachable target (for) subscribers by the end of the year,” said Harry Sasongko, Indosat’s chief executive.

“We should have the same growth rate in the second half as in the first half in terms of subscribers.”

Indosat, controlled by Doha-based Qatar Telecom, and XL are competing for second place, with XL recently giving full-year guidance on subscribers at 39 million.

(Reporting by Janeman Latul and Sara Webb)