Vodafone India has posted a 9.9 per cent rise in revenues of £1.13 billion for the third quarter ended December 31 on a strong growth in voice minutes. A stable competitive environment also helped the company during the quarter.
The GSM operator, the Indian unit of the UK-based telecom major Vodafone, had posted revenues of £1.02 billion for the same period a year ago, the company said in a statement.
Vodafone India’s growth during the quarter was 2 percentage points lower than the previous quarter primarily due to impact of regulatory changes.
During the quarter, subscriber verification regulations were changed, leading to a sharp fall in gross customer additions and net customer disconnections. Regulation was also introduced to further limit the processing fees that operators can charge.
DATA/VOICE REVENUES
The Mumbai-based company’s data revenues grew by 23.8 per cent driven by a rise in customers using data bundles and an increase in 2G data prices. As of December 31, active data customers totalled 33.1 million, including 2.5 million 3G subscribers, it said.
Its voice revenues declined to £785 million (from £790 million) and messaging revenues fell to £41 million (£49 million).
Organic growth at Indus Towers - a three-way joint venture between Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India – slowed, following a reduction in new tenancy additions. However, Indus Towers’ revenues rose as energy costs charged to operators were included in service revenues, the company added.
In November 2012, Vodafone India had acquired 1800 MHz spectrum across 14 circles for about Rs 1,13,000 crore.