CAIRO: Algeria's top mobile and telecom operator Djezzy has reported a positive rise in revenue for the third quarter of this year. It shows that the mobile sector in Algeria is gaining steam after the government announced it would introduce 3G services in the country and also has seen a rise in the number of users in the country over the past year. According to Djezzy, its reported third quarter revenue was up 2.3 percent from the previous year at DZD 36.2 billion, which it said was “helped by expansion in its customer base." Djezzy reported, through its parent company Orascom Telecom, that it saw its customer base rise by 8.6 percent in the quarter to 17.694 million, or around 56 percent of the overall market share. EBITDA rose 1.4 percent year-on-year to DZD 21.2 billion. Orascom said in a statement that “operations were still limited by the central bank's ban on foreign currency transactions by Djezzy." Capex was just USD 6.1 million, up 23 percent from a year earlier. Amid promotions for Ramadan and to stimulate data use, ARPU fell 6.5 percent from a year ago to DZD 668 and MOU was down 9.8 percent to 258 per customer. Churn increased to 6.8 percent from 5.5 a year ago. Overall, however, Algeria appears poised to continue to see widespread mobile, telecom and Internet service growth in the next year and companies are excited at the potential of the market to meet the needs of its population.
