Atlantic Tele-Network, parent company of Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company, has reported a “slight pickup” in wireless subscribers in the first quarter this year.
“On the positive side in Guyana, we did see a slight pickup in our wireless subscribers in that market, over the end of 2008, after a number of consecutive quarters of significant declines,” Michael Prior, CEO of Atlantic Tele-Network, is quoted as saying in a press release from company headquarters in Salem, Massachusetts in the US.
The release said also that revenue and operating income for the quarter were positively impacted by the consolidation of the Bermuda operations following the May 2008 increase in the company’s ownership position.
“We were pleased to continue our revenue growth in the first quarter,” said Prior, “and also to deliver steady operating and net income gains.”
The strong, double-digit revenue growth largely reflected the same factors behind the company’s growth in 2008: the expansion of the territory covered and minutes and megabytes served by their US wireless business and their increased ownership of the leading wireless provider in Bermuda.
However, the release stated, “the benefits of this strong performance and revenue growth were partly offset by the continued decline in our international revenues in Guyana, due to bypass and macro-economic conditions. That same factor as well as the addition in the third quarter of 2008 of two earlier stage businesses also limited the overall growth in operating income and net income for this quarter.”
In Guyana, according to the release, wireless revenue declined by US$0.3 million as increased competition led to a decrease in the wireless customer base to approximately 254,000 subscribers as of March 31, 2009 from 301,000 as of March 31, 2008. The subscriber base, however, increased from 248,000 as of December 31, 2008.
Meanwhile, local telephone and data revenue grew to US$13.1 million compared to US$12.2 million in 2008, an increase of $0.9 million, or 7 percent.
The release further stated that “local telephone and data revenue generated by our Guyana operations remained at US$7.4 million quarter over quarter, while access lines increased from 134,000 lines to 140,000 lines or 4 percent.”
And international long distance revenue, all of which is generated by the GT&T subsidiary was US$10.4 million in 2009, a decrease of US$2.2 million or 17 percent from US$12.6 million in 2008.
The report also noted the impact of what it referred to as “illegal bypass activities” as well as the global economic slowdown. “We believe this decrease is a result of a considerable increase in illegal bypass activities in the quarter resulting in lost revenue opportunities as well as an overall reduction in call volume into Guyana as an outcome of the current worldwide economic slowdown,” the release stated.
