Vodafone’s India revenues up 9.9 per cent in October-December quarter

Vodafone India, the Indian unit of the UK-based telecom major Vodafone Plc, has posted a 9.9 per cent rise in revenues at 1.13 billion pounds for the third quarter ended 31 December 2012, on a strong growth in voice minutes and a stable competitive environment.

The Mumbai-based GSM operator had posted revenues of 1.02 billion pounds for the same period a year ago. The company's growth during the quarter was 2 percentage points lower than the previous quarter, primarily due to the impact of regulatory changes, it said in a release.

Vodafone India's data revenues grew 23.8 per cent following an increase in customers using data bundles and a rise in 2G data pricing. As of 31 December 2012, active data customers totalled 33.1 million, including 2.5 million 3G subscribers.

Vodafone India's third quarter voice revenues declined to 785 million pounds (from 790 million pounds) and messaging revenues fell to 41 million pounds from 49 million pounds posted during the comparable quarter.

During the quarter, the government reviewed subscriber verification regulations, which led 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.

Organic growth at Indus Towers slowed following a reduction in new tenancy additions. However, revenues rose as energy costs charged to operators were included in service revenues.

Indus Towers is a three-way joint venture between Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India.