Vodafone Ireland
Smartphones continued to
drive growth at Vodafone’s Irish divison, as the number of customers using the
devices on the network rose by 27 per cent year on year.
But although Vodafone
Ireland increased the number of customers in its contract customer base by 8.2
per cent, gaining it 23,000 new customers, average revenue per user continued
to decline, falling by 2.8 per cent on the previous quarter to €29.20.
Vodafone Customers
The company now has a total
of 2.4 million customers, with 2.1 million mobile subscribers.
The network has continued to
invest in its network in recent months, improving voice and data coverage for
mobile customers in the southeast of the country. Vodafone Ireland is also working
on rolling out 4G services to customers.
According to Vodafone
Ireland, 65 per cent of its customers now use mobile data on their devices, a
figure that covers phones, tablets and notebooks. That represents a rise of
20.5 per cent year-on-year.
The company also increased
its fixed line customers by 2.9 per cent year on year, and launched
fibre-powered broadband in the quarter, bringing high speed broadband to
customers in certain areas.
A new enterprise customer
solutions division was also added to the Vodafone Ireland, aimed at providing
complex integrated telecommunications services for business customers from one
provider. It has already secured a deal to supply a managed high speed fixed
data network to Government departments and public sector agencies in a bid to
improve public services and increase efficiency.
On a group-wide basis,
Vodafone reported quarterly service revenue that fell as a price war in Germany
compounded a three-year slump in southern Europe. Service sales excluding
currency swings and acquisitions decreased 3.5 per cent in the three months
through June, the fourth consecutive quarterly decline.
Vodafone Germany
The German unit, which is
Vodafone’s biggest and accounts for almost a fifth of revenue, reported a 5.1
per cent drop in service sales.
The carrier is bulking up in
Germany, bidding €7.7 billion to buy the largest cable company, Kabel
Deutschland Holding, as it seeks to add bundled services across Europe by
combining phone, web and TV to increase customer loyalty and stabilize prices.
“Underlying trends have
slipped in our view as German competition rises and Italian pricing becomes
even more brutal,” Nick Lyall, an analyst for UBS AG, wrote in a note to
investors ahead of the results.
Vodafone’s 45 per cent stake
in Verizon Wireless, the largest US mobile-phone company, accounts for about
half of its adjusted operating profit. Majority owner Verizon Communications,
which reported a 4.3 per cent growth in revenue yesterday, is interested in
buying out Vodafone’s share this year, people familiar with the matter said in
March. A deal could win Vodafone $120 billion or more, analysts have said.
Chief executive Vittorio
Colao is reducing Vodafone’s reliance on lagging European markets with
investments in higher growth markets such as India, South Africa and the US
Vodacom, Vodafone’s African business, yesterday reported a 3 per cent increase
in quarterly revenue as more customers switched to smartphones.
