Millicom International, operators of the Tigo brand has reported its Q2 revenues rose by 14.6 per cent to $1.12 billion, shooting net profits up by 15 per cent to $175 million compared to $134 million the same period a year ago. A statement from the company said earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBTDA) was also up 10.6 per cent to $513 million compared to the same period last year. “The subscriber base rose by 12 per cent bringing total customers to 41.3 million,” the statement said. It said revenues in Africa were up 12 per cent year on year in local currency, adding the company had experienced more stable pricing activity in its African markets in the first half of 2011 compared with the second half of 2010. The statement said the company remained focused on maintaining the affordability of its products and services across the Africa, including Ghana, whilst defending its margins. But when Tigo Ghana launched its 3.5G recently, it offered three bundles at very affordable rates, but offered the most expensive pay-as-you-go package, in which customers credit run out once they are online but are not performing any activity. The statement said customers in Africa increased 17.2 per cent year-on-year bringing the total at the end of June to 16.6 million. Tigo Ghana, which is the second largest network in Ghana, contributed 4,102,156 subscribers in the second quarter, representing 24.7 per cent of the total number of Tigo subscribers in Africa. The statement said the net intake for the second quarter was over one million subscribers, with Tigo Ghana contributing almost 125,000 to that intake for the quarter, and Tanzania recording the highest intake of almost 270,000 customers. “In Rwanda we added 243,000 customers bringing the total at the end of June close to 813,000,” the company said in the statement, adding “although the customer registration deadline passed in May in Chad, requiring the disconnection of unregistered customers, we still added 132,000 net new customers.” The statement said revenues in Africa were up 12.3 per cent year-on-year to $246 million, with local currency revenues up 11.9 per cent. “For the region as a whole we have seen more stable pricing activity in the first half of 2011 compared with the second half of 2010 but we have not seen any real evidence of elasticity following last year’s cross-net tariff reductions. "We continue to maintain the affordability of Tigo products and services across Africa but our prime areas of focus are growth, cost management and returns, rather than pricing,” it added.