At the end of Q3, WIND Mobile declared its subscriber base reached 636,827, up from 620,451 from the previous quarter. Three months later, the carrier has announced a mild increase of 13,200 subs to 649,000 for the fiscal year 2013. In addition, ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) slightly increased for the year by 6% to $29.80/month.
According to the full report, as first reported in the Globe and Mail, parent company and backer VimpleCom said it “fully impaired its assets in Canada, mainly relating to the challenges the Company is facing in the country, which resulted in the strategic decision to withdraw from the 700 MHz spectrum auction and the reassessment of the prospects for continuing operations in the country.” A quick search online about what this “impairment charge” is reveals that this is a “term for writing off worthless goodwill.” The total write off for 2013 amounted to $768 million.
WIND’s CEO Anthony Lacavera stated, “With an ever-improving network and an established market presence now in our fifth year of operations, I am more confident than ever that Canadians will enjoy the benefits of our market-leading value proposition and the true competition that Wind brings to the market long-term. Wind is here to stay.”
WIND Mobile operates in Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Update: According to WIND Mobile the subscriber numbers in the VimpleCom report were incorrect. The numbers confirmed by Global Telecom Holding on page 4 shows WIND is at a total of 676,209 subscribers, which is a dramatic increase of 14% over last year.
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