Vodafone India on Friday reported a 6.9% increase in revenues to Rs 11,218 crore (1,133 million Pound sterling) for the quarter that ended June. The telecom firm said had Telecom Regulatory Authority of India not lowered the mobile termination rate, the revenue would have grown 11%.
In the quarter, data revenue grew 65% and the company added 3.1 million new data customers, taking the total data base to 66.8 million.
The total mobile customers of the company rose to 185.4 million at the end of the quarter, up 1.6 million from the same period of the previous year. The number of 3G subscribers rose to 22 million in the quarter compared with 10 million subscribers in the same quarter last year. However, the company said its call rates have continued to decline as a result of competition.
“While total voice traffic continues to grow, the outgoing rate per minute has continued to decline, reflecting higher competition. The average minutes of use per customer is lower than a year ago but has increased slightly sequentially,” it said.
Vodafone’s group chief executive Vittorio Colao said in a statement the company’s business in emerging markets have maintained a strong momentum and its Europe business is returning to growth on the back of a strong customer demand for 4G and data services.
“Our other key growth areas — unified communications and enterprise — are performing strongly, benefiting from the increased capabilities and footprint that our higher levels of investment are delivering,” he said.
“However, our markets are, as always, highly competitive and we, therefore, have to remain focused on efficiency, cost control and excellent value and service to customers, while continuing to deliver a good return for shareholders,” he added.
Vodafone said its progress on Project Spring — the company’s strategy to accelerate growth in emerging markets, and a focus on data and enterprise — remains strong with 1,000 2G sites and 1,100 3G sites added in the quarter (14,000 2G and 21,000 3G since the build commenced), taking the 3G outdoor population coverage in targeted urban areas to 91%.
“We are now trying 4G services across select areas and we continue to expand our M-Pesa service and now have 5,01,000 active customers supported by 94,000 agents,” the company said.