Telecom Argentina reported net income of P$961 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008 or +9% when compared to same period of the previous year. 
Consolidated net revenues for 2008 amounted to P$10,608 million (+17%) when compared to same period of the previous fiscal year. Revenues generated by the company’s cellular business grew by 20% and the Internet business increased by 39%.
Some highlights of the report:
- As of December 31, 2008, Telecom reached 1,042,000 ADSL customers (+33% vs. FY07). Lines with these types of connections represent approximately 24% of Telecom’s fixed-lines in service.
- As of the end of December 2008, Personal (mobile) reached 12.6 million subscribers in Argentina (+1.9 million, or +18% vs. FY07). Q4 2008 marked the highest increase of the year with the addition of 0.6 million subscribers. Approximately 66% of the overall subscriber base is prepaid and 34% is postpaid (including “cuentas claras” plans). Total voice traffic increased by 16% vs. FY07 while outgoing SMS traffic increased from a monthly average of 883 million messages in FY07 to 1,454 million (+65%) in FY08. Because of this raise in traffic and the increasing use of value-added services, ARPU increased to P$41 in FY08, compared to P$39 in FY07. Meanwhile, the ARPU in 4Q08 amounted to P$42, stable when compared to 4Q07.
- In Paraguay, Telecom’s mobile subscriber base reached approximately 1.8 million customers (+12% vs. FY07). Prepaid and Postpaid customers represented 90% and 10%, respectively.
- During FY08, the company invested P$1,597 million (excluding materials), in fixed and intangible assets. This amount was allocated to Voice, Data and Internet businesses (P$834 million) and cellular business (P$763 million).
Telecom Argentina’s main CAPEX projects are related to the expansion of broadband services and to the upgrade of the network for next generation services (NGN), the improvement of the network (capacity, coverage and 3G), and the launch of new and innovative value-added services. In relative terms, CAPEX reached 15% of the revenues, within industry standards.
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