Australia's biggest phone corporation, Telstra Corp, reported its profit that had surpassed analysts' estimates. A surge in the number of fourth generation network users boosted the company's mobile market share by nearly 50%.
Telstra's net income increased from Au$3.41 billion last year to Au$3.8 billion for the fiscal year ending on June 30. Bloomberg's data showed that the average estimates of three analysts were only at Au$3.7 billion.
The Melbourne-based corporation said it spent Au$1.3 billion when it upgraded its network. It also spent Au$2.9 billion on mobile units like Apple Inc's iPhones and it purchased Au$1.2 billion worth of the latest spectrum. The domestic mobile clients of Telstra increased by 1.3 million during the year. The company's total subscribers amounted to 15.1 million, equivalent to around 65% of the entire population in Australia.
In 2011, David Thodey, Telstra's chief executive officer, switched on the mobile carrier's high-speed 4G network. This allowed the carrier to beat its rivals Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. and Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty.
"They're getting into people's hands, on their iPhones, on their iPads, on whatever," IG Markets' market strategist in Melbourne, Evan Lucas, said. "They're probably making the winning bet about where consumption of the Internet will go."
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