Celtel doubles subscribers, increases revenue

JOHANNESBURG – African mobile phone group Celtel increased revenue by 47 per cent in the first half of 2004 as it more than doubled subscribers to four million on its eastern and sub-Saharan networks, the firm said yesterday.

Dutch-based Celtel International said in a statement that revenue grew to US$297 million (N$1,9 billion) as its business expanded following the acquisition in May of a majority stake in Kenya’s KenCell. Celtel invested US$250 million in Kenya’s second cellphone operator KenCell in May, including the purchase of a 60 per cent stake that had been owned by Vivendi Universal.Celtel operates in 13 countries in east and sub-Saharan Africa, making it a leading rival to South Africa’s MTN and Vodacom.The Kenya acquisition made Celtel the largest African mobile operator in sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa.Celtel said it had invested US$118 million in the first six months of the year and rolled out a new corporate branding in 10 of the 13 African countries the group operated in.Celtel is the only mobile firm with operations in all three major east African nations, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and the group wants to forge a unified regional network.Africa is the fastest-growing cellular market, with the number of users rocketing by more than 1 000 per cent between 1998 and 2003 to just under 52 million, according to the International Telecommunication Union.-Nampa-ReutersCeltel invested US$250 million in Kenya’s second cellphone operator KenCell in May, including the purchase of a 60 per cent stake that had been owned by Vivendi Universal.Celtel operates in 13 countries in east and sub-Saharan Africa, making it a leading rival to South Africa’s MTN and Vodacom.The Kenya acquisition made Celtel the largest African mobile operator in sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa.Celtel said it had invested US$118 million in the first six months of the year and rolled out a new corporate branding in 10 of the 13 African countries the group operated in.Celtel is the only mobile firm with operations in all three major east African nations, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and the group wants to forge a unified regional network.Africa is the fastest-growing cellular market, with the number of users rocketing by more than 1 000 per cent between 1998 and 2003 to just under 52 million, according to the International Telecommunication Union.-Nampa-Reuters