Neotel wants 150 000 subscribers this year

It attributed the increase to a higher demand for its products such as NeoOne‚ a converged data and voice solution for business that it claims has been making a noticeable impact in the market.

Chief executive Sunil Joshi says the company hopes to add an extra 20‚000 customers to its network and says it will have 150‚000 users by the end of the year.

"The company is likely to meet its goal of increasing its subscriber base by 50‚000 users," said Frost & Sullivan's analyst Gladys Mujuru. She said that with the recently introduced mobile dual SIM card phone‚ Neotel is likely to attract more clients with a product that provides a convergence of fixed and mobile services.

Neotel's revenue for the six months rose 10%.

Home and small business users make up 90% of Neotel's subscribers while enterprises account for about 10%. As Neotel is not a listed company it is not obliged to reveal detailed figures.

"Neotel continues to make significant progress in growing its revenue while improving margins‚" said Joshi.

The company seeks to reach a market share of 14% to 16% in the next three to five years.

It believes that there are still opportunities for growth in the market that has been dominated by Telkom as many enterprises are increasingly looking at dual telecommunications infrastructure and services suppliers.

Joshi said Neotel would focus on its five key priorities to continue the growth trajectory.

"By improving the customer experience‚ growing revenue and market share‚ staying focused on our people‚ and bringing disruptive products to the South African market‚ we aim to provide innovative and world class communication solutions to our business and home customers‚" said Joshi.

During the six months‚ Neotel has spent 60% of its R500m capital allocated for the full year to March next year.

The money was spent on‚ among other things‚ infrastructure rollout and technology.

Neotel is also investigating low-cost telecommunications solutions that will enable it to extend its services to areas such as Polokwane and Nelspruit. In addition‚ it is also evaluating different technologies provide faster broadband network.