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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
THE operator of Sun Cellular has raised its
capital expenditures for this year in a bid to improve the mobile
phone service provider’s network coverage and capacity.
In a statement, Digital Telecommunications Phils.
Inc. (Digitel) said it has allocated about $393 million for the
expansion of its mobile brand. This is higher than the annual $200
million to $300 million the telecom company had spent in the past.
The company expects to double its cell-site base
by year-end to support the projected surge in subscribers. It will
expand its network from the current 2,200 cell sites to about 4,000.
The Gokongwei-led company said Sun Cellular has
increased its network coverage nationwide by expanding in key areas
outside Metro Manila such as Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga,
Batangas, Nueva Ecija, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan de Oro,
Zamboanga, General Santos, among others.
Last year, Sun Cellular had more than 5.5
million subscribers. Digitel also registered a net income of P1.17
billion, a turnaround from losses of P962.91 million in 2006.
Consolidated revenues jumped 48.3 percent to
P16.75 billion from P11.29 billion in 2006 owing to higher service
revenues generated by the company’s wireless business.
Digitel’s wireless business reported P3.9
billion in service revenues last year, a 40.5-percent increase from
P2.8 billion in 2006. The company said the increase was due to the
continued growth in its subscriber base, which raised revenues from
unlimited fees, voice, short messaging system, roaming and value
added services.
Its wire line voice communication service
revenues however declined to P3.9 billion from P4.5 billion in 2006.
Digitel’s wireline data communication services
generated revenues of P381 million, 25.9 percent higher than the
previous year. The increase was driven by the demand from call
centers and business process outsourcing (BPO) firms for
high-bandwidth data services and for high-bandwidth transport
services in the case of foreign and local carriers.
On Monday, Digitel’s shares were down to P1.46
from Friday’s P1.50 per share.
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