With the rise mobile internet business, British telecom major Vodafone on Friday posted 6.9 per cent increase in India revenue at over 1.13 billion pounds (about Rs11,017 crore) for the first quarter ended June 30.The company had registered revenue of over 1.02 billion pound (about Rs10,302 crore) for India, its third biggest market, in the same period last year.
“Service revenue increased 6.9 per cent, with the growth rate slowing due to the impact of regulation, including a cut in mobile termination rate (MTR). Excluding MTRs, service revenue grew by 10.6 per cent, with continued customer base growth and acceleration in the take-up of 3G offsetting continued pressure on voice pricing,” Vodafone said in its statement.
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 per cent.The company’s growth, however, declined by 4.8 per cent compared to previous quarter as TRAI’s decision to cut mobile termination rate (MTR) came into effect, Vodafone said.
The company saw increase in data consumption to 67,970 terabyte (TB) compared to 37,707 TB consumed in India in first quarter of 2014-15.“Data revenue grew 65 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent of urban 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 per cent. We are now trialling 4G services across selected areas,” Vodafone said.