AIS projecting 5% revenue growth for 2017

Thailand’s AIS is projecting a 5% increase in revenue and a 44% growth in ebitda this year as a result of strong growth in 4G customers.

AIS VP of investor relations Nattiya Poapongsakorn as stating that the operator is expecting service revenue for the year of 129 billion baht ($3.75 billion), with the majority expected to come from data services.

AIS’ total 4G customer base roughly doubled in the past 12 months to reach 12 million by the end of March, which compares to a 3G customer base of 24.6 million and a 2G subscriber base of 4 million.

AIS aims to increase its revenue market share to 50% this year, up from 48% as of March. She said the operator’s 4G users have an ARPU of 400 baht, compared to just 250 baht overall.

For the first quarter, AIS reported service revenue of 31.4 billion baht, with data services accounting for 57% of this.

The operator meanwhile plans to spend around 45 billion baht to expand its networks in 2017, with 40 billion to be spent on mobile networks and the remainder on fiber infrastructure. But the company plans to reduce its handset subsidy budget after incurring subsidy costs of 10 billion baht last financial year.