By Sreejit Pillai
Wednesday, November 21 2001 04:40 PM
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/communications/0,39044192,39001885,00.htm

KUALA LUMPUR--The country's only foreign-controlled mobile operator, DiGi Telecommunications, says there has been no dip in its subscriber base, which remains at 1.2 million, despite the economic downturn.

"The telecommunications industry is expected to face exponential changes. Studies have shown that mobile subscribers are projected to grow at a robust pace of between 20 percent and 35 percent annually over the next three years," DiGi's head of marketing and strategy Knut Oppegaard was quoted in The Sun newspaper.

Currently, Malaysia's mobile phone penetration is roughly 28 percent, or about 6.2 million subscribers, Oppergaard said, adding that this figure is expected to grow to 7 million by the end of next month.

He said DiGi enjoyed a 20 percent increase in sales in October over the preceding month, when it launched a RM6 million (US$1.6 million) network coverage ad blitz in early October.

This campaign involves an announcement each week of a new location somewhere in the country which will have DiGi cellular coverage via print and electronic media.

Oppergaard said the success of that campaign has spurred a new RM9 million (US$2.4 million) corporate branding advertising campaign which began on November 5.

"DiGi's new brand positioning will see the company focusing heavily on strengthening its overall market share," he added.

Norwegian telco group Telenor has a 61 percent stake in DiGi.Com, which operates DiGi telecommunications after the Malaysian government approved the deal this year.

DiGi.Com reported RM189.9 million (US$50 million) in after tax group profits for the financial year ending April 30 2001.