From New Zealand one of the 20 or so other countries UIHIA operates in
Copyright 1999 Wellington Newspapers Limited
The Dominion (Wellington)
February 2, 1999
SECTION: BUSINESS Pg. 13
LENGTH: 334 words
HEADLINE: Saturn targets subscriber base
BYLINE: BROCKETT Matthew
BODY:
SATURN Communications, Telecom's only competitor in the local calling market, aims to more than double its subscriber base to 20,000 this year.
The Hutt Valley-based telecommunications provider said yesterday that a fifth of the homes it reached were taking up its telephone service.
Corporate development director Sean Wynne said Saturn's Wellington city network would be complete by September, expanding its total market to about 100,000 homes.
With a penetration rate of about 20 per cent, Saturn expected to more than double its present subscriber base of 8000 to 20,000, Mr Wynne said.
"This year is going to be a very important year for us, to really consolidate what we've done to date to ensure we get a significant customer base."
In addition to its local telephone service, Saturn offers a range of toll, data, television and Internet options.
Mr Wynne said about 6000 people subscribed to its cable television service, but this number was also expected to grow.
"The majority of our customers see value in Saturn packages, so they are buying more than one service."
Launched in 1996, Saturn made a loss of US$ 7.2 million (NZ$ 13.3 million) in the nine months to September last year.
The company projected that it would become cashflow positive in 2000 but was unlikely to turn a profit for several years, Mr Wynne said.
"When you start up a company, you put your staffing in place, you go through your business plan, you build portions of your network, you build your back offices before you add a customer. That by definition means that you are going to be on the negative side of the ledger for some years."
He said Saturn was investing $ 200 million in its network.
"Things are tracking very much according to plan. We're very happy with the customer uptake. For us, establishing a sound customer base is very much the goal this year."
Saturn's main shareholders are United States-based United International Holdings and Canada's SaskTel International.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: February 2, 1999 |
