Australia's second-biggest mobile carrier, SingTel Optus has recorded a 2.6 per cent rise in its earnings in the quarter from October to December, 2012.

The telecom service provider, which is undergoing a cost cutting programme, said that it recorded a 2.6 per cent increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to $576 million. The company also said that it added just 22,000 mobile customers during the December quarter and its revenues fell 6 per cent to $2.28 billion.

SingTel Optus consumer chief executive, Kevin Russell said that the company will continue its efforts to cut costs. He said that the company will try to get as much as possible from its spending in order to cope with the falling revenue in the industry and before the investment in network infrastructure and spectrum.

"It's just a case of making sure that we review our cost structure, and continually; it's not something that you chop and change," he said.

SingTel Optus cut about 300 jobs in the quarter and it axed a total of about 1000 jobs in 2012. Singapore Telecommunications, the parent company of the firm recorded a 8 per cent fall in December-quarter profits to $S827million in the quarter.