Vodafone India Q1 revenue rises 6.9%

British telecom major Vodafone on Friday reported a 6.9 per cent increase in India revenue at over £1.13 billion (about Rs 11,017 crore) for the first quarter ended June 30, driven by uptake in mobile Internet business. The company had registered revenue of over £1.02 billion (about Rs 10,302 crore) for India, its third biggest market, in the same period last year.

It said that without incorporating the impact of merger and acquisition activity and movements in foreign exchange rates, the revenue growth for India was 10.6 <g data-gr-id="28">per cent</g>. The company’s growth, however, declined by 4.8 <g data-gr-id="29">per cent</g> compared to <g data-gr-id="36">previous</g> quarter as TRAI’s decision to cut mobile termination rate (MTR) came into effect, Vodafone said.

“Service revenue increased 6.9 <g data-gr-id="21">per cent</g>, with the growth rate slowing due to the impact of regulation, including an MTR cut. Excluding MTRs, service revenue grew by 10.6 per cent, with continued customer base growth and an acceleration in the take-up of 3G offsetting continued pressure on voice pricing,” Vodafone said today.

The company saw <g data-gr-id="26">increase</g> in data consumption to 67,970 <g data-gr-id="25">terabyte</g> (TB) compared to 37,707 TB consumed in India in <g data-gr-id="27">first</g> quarter of 2014-15. 

“Data revenue grew 65 <g data-gr-id="33">per cent</g> supported by the addition of 3.1 million new data customers, taking the total to 66.8 million. Smartphone penetration is now 26 per cent across the country and 47 <g data-gr-id="34">per cent</g> in the four metro circles and we now have 22 million 3G customers compared to 10 million a year ago,” Vodafone said.

The company said it now covers 91 <g data-gr-id="23">per cent</g> of <g data-gr-id="32">urban</g> area with 3G network. “Progress on Project Spring 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 our 3G outdoor population coverage in targeted urban areas to 91 <g data-gr-id="24">per cent</g>. We are now trialling 4G services across selected areas,” Vodafone said.