LONDON (AFP) - Mobile telephone operator mmO2 raised its forecasts for British revenue growth but would not be drawn on an exact date for the launch of third-generation services in its domestic market.
The British group, which earlier this year scorned a takeover bid from Dutch telecommunications group KPN, said it expected British net service revenue growth of between 9.0 and 12 percent in the 12 months to the end of March 2005.
MmO2's previous forecast was for revenue growth of between 7.0 and 10 percent. The revision upwards was made in light of further growth in its customer base and higher average revenue per user, mmO2 said.
The price of shares in mmO2 jumped 2.87 percent to 98.50 pence in early afternoon deals, while the London FTSE 100 index rose 0.36 percent to 4,604.80 points.
The company earlier this year announced its first annual profit since it was hived off from the country's former state-owned monopoly British Telecom in November 2001.
Its bullish comments on full-year British revenue growth came despite mmO2 faced stiff competition from other operators in Britain and hefty regulatory price cuts.
"As indicated previously, service revenue growth is expected to slow significantly in the second half," mmO2 said.
Britain's telecoms and media watchdog Ofcom had ordered mobile phone companies to cut termination rates by 30 percent from the start of September.
Termination rates are the charges imposed by an operator for routing calls through to their network.
MmO2 meanwhile faces being left behind in the race to establish the first viable, mass-market third generation (3G) offering in Britain.
"We are rolling the (3G) network out pretty quickly ahead of an anticipated launch of 3G in the relatively near future," chief financial officer David Finch said in a conference call with analysts.
He added that he anticipated unveiling British 3G services in the first quarter of 2005, in line with analysts' expectations.
British mobile telephone giant Vodafone last week said it would introduce a range of 10 3G handsets for the Christmas period, in a long-awaited full launch for the new services.
As for its German subsidiary, mmO2 said it continued to expect "strong" service revenue growth for the full year, driven by further rapid growth of the customer base.
It was a similar story with the group's Irish subsidiary, with mmO2 pledging "further steady growth".
MmO2 meanwhile unveiled a joint venture agreement with German consumer goods retailer and coffee shop owner Tchibo Holding, offering pre-paid mobile phone services to German consumers.