Indonesia's XL Cuts its Subscriber Forecasts

Indonesia's PT Excelcomindo Pratama (XL) has warned that it may miss its subscriber target for this year due to the ongoing economic downturn. The company had a subscriber target of 27-28 million customers, but has lowered expectations to 25-27 million.

The company also noted that it still expects to secure a decision on the US$900 million sale of its tower assets by the end of the year though. Two investment firms, Saratoga Capital and Recapital have been previously reported to be interested in buying the tower assets - which include some 7,000 base stations

"Challenges entering the fourth quarter are bigger due to heated competition and a less conducive economy," the company President, Hasnul Suhaimi told reporters.

Despite the slowdown, the firm still expects to maintain its CAPEX at around US$700 million - down on the US$1.2 billion it announced it would spend this year.

XL is currently the third largest operator in the country, and according to figures from the Mobile World database, ended the first half of this year with just under 22.9 million subscribers, and a market share of 19.7%.

The mobile network operator is 84% owned by Telecom Malaysia, with the remainder held by Etisalat.

Posted to the site on 23rd November 2008