TORONTO – Wind Mobile Canada’s parent company, Orascom, announced as part of its 2012 fourth quarter report today that Wind Mobile saw a 47% increase in its subscriber base in the last quarter of 2012 compared to the same period a year earlier.
The wireless provider added 79,954 subscribers during the fourth quarter, increasing its active subscriber base to 590,438. “It was a banner year for us – our strategy to develop our postpaid customer base is clearly working,” said Pietro Cordova, Chief Operating Officer of Wind Mobile. However, due to a $339 million impairment charge incurred in forgiving the interest on a loan to Globalive Holdings Canada, Wind's Canadian operation drove the parent to an overall $474 million loss in Q4.
However, Wind Mobile also expanded its network in the fourth quarter of 2012 with launches in Peterborough and Windsor, Ont., increasing its population coverage to more than 14 million, in addition to continuous improvements and increased sites on air to 1,300 sites. It also increased its branded point-of-sale locations across the country to 335, the company noted in a press release.
Wind Mobile is supported by shareholder Orascom Telecommunications, which is controlled by Amsterdam-based VimpelCom Group, a global company with over 210 million customers.
