British telecom company Vodafone Plc’s service revenue from India grew 6.3 per cent to £1,024 million (Rs 7,987 crore) in the third quarter, compared to £963 million (Rs 7,511 crore) in the same quarter last year.
“Whilst the market remains highly competitive, the effective rate per minute increased slightly compared to the second quarter, following the penetration of recent price rises into the customer base,” the company said in a press release on Thursday.
The company had increased rates in July last year, along with Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular. It also increased its post-paid rates in the Delhi circle by 20 per cent, earlier this month.
Vodafone India, which launched commercial 3G services in February last year, also saw a huge surge in data revenues, which grew by 29 per cent year-on-year to £83 million (Rs 647 crore). The company provides 3G services in 683 towns and cities across 20 circles. Its total data customers accounted to 31.2 million by the end of December. That was 21.5 per cent of its total subscribers of 144.9 million.
The company’s voice revenue, however, remained flat, with four per cent growth on an annual comparison. Messaging revenue, too, grew by 4.7 per cent annually, making data the segment with the highest growth.
The global major attributed the quarterly growth in revenues to an increase in the customer base, continued growth in incoming and outgoing voice minutes and 46.4 per cent growth in data revenue.
