Stable bottom line for local telcos next year

PROFITABILITY for the telco sector in Singapore is set to remain stable, with data revenue cushioning the bumps on the road ahead, according to the Fitch Ratings 2014 outlook report for telcos in the region.

While revenue from text messages and international service will fall, a 20 per cent increase in mobile data revenue will offset the declines, resulting in a flat topline for the industry.

"Data revenue will increase as a greater portion of users move to tiered data bundles, currently around 25-30 per cent of the overall subscriber base," the report said.