Telecom network operator Vodafone India today said it made an investment of £364 million or $550 million towards Capex (capital spending) in the six month ended September 30, 2015.
The increase in the Capex of Vodafone was 4.59 percent.
Vodafone India’ revenues rose 8.18 percent to £2,221 million or $3,356 million in H1. Service revenue of Vodafone India increased 6.3 percent against 6.9 percent in Q1 and 5.6 percent in Q2.
Vodafone India has added more than 22,000 new 3G sites, taking the total to nearly 40,000 as part of the Project Spring strategy.
Its population coverage reached 94 percent of target urban areas.
Vodafone India plans to launch 4G in five key circles in the coming months competing with Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio Infocomm. It will be launching 4G in select towns.
Vodafone India added 4.4 million customers in H1, taking the total to 188.2 million.
Growth in total minutes of use increased in H1. There was a decline in revenue per minute as a result of ongoing competition on voice business.
Vodafone India said data usage over the network rose 74 percent in H1. Data customer base of Vodafone India increased 16 percent to 66.5 million. The 3G customer base grew 75 percent to 23.8 million fuelled by 49 percent smartphone penetration in its four biggest urban areas.
In Q2, browsing revenue of Vodafone represented 18.9 percent of local service revenue against 13.5 percent.
Vodafone India has 665,000 M-Pesa mobile banking customers at September 2015, and 97,000 agents.
The Indian telecom network operator begun preparations for a potential IPO of Vodafone India, subject to market conditions.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
