Wireless broadband provider iBurst would enjoy stronger growth if it could access enough sites to put up base stations, it says.
MD Alan Knott-Craig Jnr says the company plans to reach a 65 000 subscriber base by the end of February, with 100 000 subscribers by the end of the 2008/9 financial year. The company currently has 55 000 subscribers, he says.
Earlier this year, iBurst said it would double its subscriber base from 35 000 to 70 000 subscribers by the end of February.
Gross subscriber uptake was strong enough for iBurst to reach the target, says Knott-Craig Jnr. However, the net subscriber numbers dropped following a "clean-up" exercise, where subscribers who defaulted on payments were cancelled, he says.
"The thing that holds us back is lack of base station sites. If we could have 10 times the number of base stations, we would have 10 times the subscriber numbers."
He adds that iBurst is on track to roll-out 250 base stations by February. The wireless broadband provider currently has 210 base stations, with another 40 sites lined up, he says.
The base station roll-out is part of the R350 million network infrastructure deployment that was to help to relieve backlogs, as well as assist the company to achieve its growth targets.
Vodacom`s bigger slice
Meanwhile, FMTech reports that mobile operator Vodacom will increase its shareholding from 10% to 25.1% in Burst`s holding company Wireless Business Solutions (WBS).
The shares will be acquired equally from WBS shareholders, including Blue Label Investments, the report says.
Knott-Craig Jnr previously refused to comment on the possibility that Vodacom wanted to acquire a bigger stake in the company, stating it was a shareholder matter.
However, he noted Vodacom had the option to increase its stake to 25.1% in iBurst when it bought the 10% shareholding last year.
He also said it did not matter to him who the company`s shareholders are, as long as they enable the company to grow. "I would only be concerned if someone bought into the company and then shut down."
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iBurst ups base stations
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