Archive for November 11th, 2009

Telenor Pakistan: 22% Market Share. Anticipates Cash Flow Break-Even In 2010

Published by Babar Bhatti on November 11, 2009 under Business, Competitive Trends, Foreign Investment, Mobile Companies, Telecom News, Telecommunications, Telenor

Telenor Pakistan is making good progress towards an anticipated cash flow break-even in 2010, with the unit increasing revenue for the quarter by 19.6% compared to the same period a year earlier. Telenor Pakistan market share is now 22%, driven by strong organic growth in 2009.

• Organic growth – 766k net subscriber growth boosted by 50% reduction in activation tax.
• ARPU remains stable – consistent with market conditions
• Revenue growth driven by higher subscriber base
• Profit margins edge higher – the EBITDA margin of 24% was the highest quarterly EBITDA margin reported so far by Telenor Pakistan.
• Network investments are still low, some catch-up expected in Q4

Source: Telenor Website – 3Q Report

Zong’s Student Entrepreneur Program

Published by Babar Bhatti on November 11, 2009 under Business, Entrepreneurship, Mobile Companies, Zong

Students are desirable customers for telcos (and most businesses). It is generally believed that youth spend more on mobile voice and data. Zong has created Student Entrepreneur Program for driving incentive driven word-of-mouth sales through students who are called ‘Zong ambassadors’. Here’s how the program is described by Zong.

ZONG has established a concrete earning opportunity for students. Selected ambassadors will be trained and briefed by Zong representatives at Customer Service Centers. These ambassadors will create awareness among the students by not only offering them to migrate to Zong’s network but also by offering different products like New Activation or recharging a currently owned Zong connection. These Ambassadors will become a part of the Zong Family with only a small deposit of Rs. 1000. In return of which they will get one free gold number, a telesales Sim through which they will perform Zong Sales, 5 Zong Sims and a Mini load worth Rs. 600 (The stated items are worth Rs.1500). In addition, this ambassadorship will add great value to their Resume as this would give them hands on sales experience.

Most educational institutes in Pakistan would be a part of this program through the appointment of ZONG’s Ambassadors, specifically in cities where Customer Service Centers are operational.