Jimmy Wales-backed mobile network The People’s Operator celebrates better than expected six months
Commercial mobile phone network The People’s Operator (TPO) saw subscriber numbers grow by 140 per cent in the second half of last year, to 14,032 from 5,800.
The final two months of 2014 saw the number of subscribers for the cause-based mobile operator, which is led by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, go up by 28 per cent, from 10,913 at 31 October.
The company said in a trading update yesterday that the increase in customers significantly exceeded its initial expectations for the year and reported that monthly subscriber revenues from pay monthly customers went up by 141 per cent in the six months to 31 December.
In addition, the firm reported that average revenues per subscriber and average customer acquisitions costs remain in line with those set out in its Aim admission document.
The group also stated that it remains on track with its US launch, having signed a deal with US network operator Sprint last year, and the development of its new social network platform, which is set to launch this year. Wales has also spent time “exploring the market” in the Middle East and the company said yesterday that it may expand into Mexico, Brazil and Asia.
Mark Epstein, chief executive of TPO, commented: “We are pleased to have achieved strong growth in our subscriber numbers and to have finished the year substantially ahead of our targets. This performance gives us confidence for 2015, as we launch our new online, cause based community platform and expand into the US.”
TPO raised £20m ahead of floating on Aim in December 2014 in a move that attracted interest from institutional investors such as Aviva, JP Morgan and Allianz. Executive director of strategy and digital community Wales said at the time that TPO has decided to list “because we wanted to have the transparency that being a public company provides.”
Shares in the company went up by 1.8 per cent yesterday.