Mobile phone operator Vodafone-Panafon said yesterday that its customer base reached 2.96 million at the end of March, after a 26.7-percent year-on-year increase. The company said prepaid subscribers continued to represent the bulk of its customer base, rising by 34.2 percent to 2.14 million and amounting to 72.3 percent of the total — up from 71.9 percent of a 2.88-million total at the end of 2001. The number of contract customers grew 10.7 percent to 820,427 in the April 2001-March 2002 period. Overall net new additions reached 625,784, a rise of 10.3-percent in relation to the previous 12-month period. Vodafone said the commercial success of its CU program was the major contributor to the growth of business. CU net additions more than doubled year-on-year, coming to represent 70 percent of net new additions to prepaid customers. Active customers, as defined by those making at least one call in the last three months, represented 76 percent of the total at the end of March after a fall in the number of disconnections.

Inflation in April will decline to 3.8-3.9 percent from 4 percent in March, National Statistics Service (NSS) sources said yesterday. Deputy Development Minister Christos Theodorou said the government may approve increased imports of fresh produce and meat in order to stem inflationary pressures likely to arise due to higher demand during the Easter holiday. Already, imports of tomatoes have been approved from Turkey and Morocco and of live animals from Romania. Meanwhile, the Consumer Protection Institute (INKA) is warning that there already has been a spate of price increases on the market considerably above current inflation levels, and is advising consumers to avoid the special “holiday loans” granted by banks which carry high interest rates. Theodorou also said private school fees had increased 6.5 percent on average during the current financial year, against the 3.5-percent ceiling set by the government. Checks are still under way and fines will be imposed when the process is completed, he added. Sources said, however, that many schools are already demanding fee increases of 20-30 percent for the next school year.

Cyprus’s bid to find a private partner for its tourist-busy airports has been delayed at least a month to ward off a legal challenge to the process, sources close to the project said yesterday. “It will take about a week and we expect the tenders commission to announce a shortlist of five by the end of May,” a government source close to the bidding process told Reuters. By seeking clarifications, authorities hope to plug any legal loopholes which could dislodge one of the most ambitious privatization projects undertaken. Threats of legal action by one bidder excluded from a previous short-listing process has pushed the project at least two months off schedule. The government wants a partner to administer the airports under a build-operate-transfer contract for 20 years. (Reuters)