P1 eyes 500,000 subscribers (0082)

Green Packet Bhd's subsidiary, Packet One Networks (M) Sdn Bhd (P1), expects to achieve a total of 500,000 subscribers for
its fixed, wireless broadband and fibre optics services by year-end.

Todate,
the company has garnered some 460,000 subscribers, of which 410,000 are
broadband subscribers while 50,000 are voice subscribers.

For its P1 pillar, Green Packet is gradually rolling out its 4G/WiMAX broadband service in Kota Kinabalu.

Green
Packet Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Puan Chan Cheong
said: "We are excited to bring the 4G Internet superhighway experience
to East Malaysia and are targeting 80 per cent household coverage in
urban Kota Kinabalu in the first phase.

"It is in line with our
plan to build 360 more base stations and target about 2,100 base
stations throughout the country by year-end."

"The P1 pillar
also focuses on Malaysian small and medium enterprise market in which
demand for information and communication technology services is
increasing to make them more competitive in a global environment," Puan
told a media conference to announce the company's second quarter
results, here today.

Green Packet posted a pre-tax loss of
RM32.45 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012 compared
with a pre-tax loss of RM36.65 million the same period last year.

Revenue however surged to RM138 million from RM128 million previously.

The
company recorded a positive Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation
and Amortisation (EBITDA) of RM4.3 milllion, a 191 per cent improvement
year-on-year.

Its P1 pillar contributed RM88 million to group
revenue and registered a positive EBITDA of RM5.6 million for the
second quarter.

As for the Greenpacket Solutions pillar, it
posted a flat growth with revenue of RM21 million in the second quarter
due to challenging WiMAX market conditions in light of the Long Term
Evolution (LTE) developments.

However, Greenpacket Solutions
continued to play a role in developing markets, registering a 33 per
cent shipment growth in the second quarter of 2012.

Its recent
launch of the industry's first dual mode LTE and WiMAX indoor modem
demonstrated its technology transition to LTE. -- Bernama