Vodafone is planning to complete its HSPA+ mobile broadband technology, which promises speeds of around 14.4Mbps, earlier than expected. It also revealed that 40,000 iPhones were sold within two weeks of its recent launch.
The completion of the network upgrade was expected to take place in September. The company recently accelerated its roll out of HSPA+ infrastructure, which will allow users to access a range of data-intensive products on the network.
The company this morning revealed its key performance indicators for the quarter ended 31 March and revealed that its fixed-line and DSL business now has 194,000 subscribers, bringing the company’s total telecoms base to 2.3 million at the end of the quarter.
Vodafone Ireland text and voice minutes usage
Vodafone Ireland customers used 22pc more texts and 1.5pc more voice minutes than in the previous year’s quarter, bringing the total texts sent in the year to 4.83 billion and total voice minutes to 6.42 billion.
In the same period, average blended monthly ARPU decreased by 7.7pc to €36.10 from €39.10. Vodafone Ireland’s customers’ consumption of voice minutes remained higher than the Vodafone Europe average. Vodafone Ireland customers used on average 257 voice minutes each month and 200 text messages in the quarter ended 31 March 2010 versus a European average of 152 voice minutes and 89 text messages. The company also saw strong post-pay performance, with 14,000 net additions in the quarter.
“In the last 12 months, value has become more important than ever,” explained Gerry Fahy, strategy director, Vodafone Ireland.
“In response, Vodafone has delivered overall price reductions of approximately 21pc to our customers compared with a year ago. Due to the size of Vodafone’s community, the company can deliver significant value to customers calling and texting other Vodafone customers. In the last year, 65pc of Vodafone-to-Vodafone calls and texts for prepay customers were given free through Free Texts and Free Weekends.
”During the last 12 months, we have continued to pursue our strategy in the fixed-line market, most notably through the acquisition of BT’s consumer and small business retail customer base.The landmark deal also provides Vodafone access to BT’s wholesale fixed-line network.
“To date, 31 exchanges have been upgraded, covering 340,000 lines affording Vodafone the ability to launch an exciting and innovative road map of fixed products and services that are strongly differentiated from those available in the market today. Customers are strongly welcoming the greater choice and value on offer in the market and we now have over 20pc of the DSL broadband market,” added Fahy.
The iPhone at Vodafone
Fahy said that Vodafone’s introduction of the iPhone has yielded it a rich harvest of more than 40,000 subscribers within the first two weeks of launch.
“While the operating environment remains challenging, we continue to react to the changing conditions by delivering innovative products and services as well as exceptional value to our customers. By doing so we continue to maintain a strong, competitive business and have secured strong traction in the fixed-line market,” Fahy said.
Vodafone Ireland’s parent company, Vodafone Group, revealed this morning that revenues increased 8.4pc to stg£44.5bn, while service revenue increased by 8.9pc to stg£41.7bn.
By John Kennedy
