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ast year was a disappointing period for the country’s telecommunication industry as some companies were hit by painful dips in profits and some unfortunate others were struggling to survive from losses that could cripple their businesses.

Many telecom companies suffered a decline in revenues amid growing competition in the local telecom market.

PT Bakrie Telecom, operator of the Esia brand, booked Rp 9.97 billion (US$$1.14 million) in net profits in 2010, a 90 percent decrease from Rp 98.44 billion in 2009.

The company’s per share profit also slumped to Rp 0.35 from Rp 3.46 a year earlier.

According to the company’s financial report issued on Thursday, the decline was caused by an increasing tax burden and falling gross profits. Bakrie Telecom’s gross profits plunged to Rp 190.8 billion last year from Rp 278.25 billion in 2009.

The report shows that on the revenue side the telecommunication firm recorded a slight increase to Rp 2.76 trillion in 2010 from Rp 2.74 trillion in 2009. Its tax burden rose to Rp 82.55 billion last year from only Rp 47.27 billion in 2009.

The nation’s biggest telecommunication firm, state-owned PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), performed better than Bakrie Telecom last year. Its net profit grew by 1.22 percent to Rp 11.53 trillion from Rp 11.39 trillion in 2009, while revenues rose 1.4 percent to Rp 68.62 trillion from the previous year.

With an increase in net profit, the company’s per share profit was up from Rp 579.52 in 2009 to Rp 586.54 last year.

Despite increased revenues and profits, Telkom’s average share price fell 20 percent to Rp 7,550 per share in 2010 from Rp 9,450 in 2009. As Bakrie Telecom and Telkom were still able to book profits in 2010, PT Mobile-8 Telecom, owner of the Fren brand, posted losses of Rp 1.4 trillion last year, far higher than losses a year earlier of Rp 724.39 billion.

The poor showing was a result of declining revenues and rising expenditures, the company’s financial report said.

The firm’s revenues were Rp 376.51 billion in 2010, down 25.36 percent from Rp 504.49 billion a year earlier, while expenditures ballooned to Rp 1.24 trillion, making the company’s gross losses Rp 887.38 billion.

Net loss per share also increased from Rp 34.54 in 2009 to Rp 36.89 in 2010. The poor financial performance had cause Mobile-8 Telecom’s asset value to fall to Rp 4.48 trillion from Rp 4.7 trillion two years ago.

The average price of the firm’s shares strayed to its lowest point of Rp 50 per share in 2010.