Optus chief executive Allen Lew said the firm, a subsidiary of SGX-listed Singtel Group, had enhanced customer growth in the face of a”challenging competitive marketplace”.

Optus’ consumer division reported that operating earnings had grown 8.2 per cent to $146 million, with higher equipment sales partly offset by increased quantities of SIM-only clients and data cost competition.

Optus said its prepaid handset subscriber numbers dipped 9.5 per cent to 3.37 million, while its postpaid subscribers were up 7.5 per cent to 5.73 million.

Clients on data-only SIMs grew 6.1 per cent to 1.18 million.

Its average revenue per user was down 8.2 per cent to $29 per month.

Optus’ NBN customer base grew by 151,000 annually, bringing its broadband customer base to 646,000.