Vodafone's India service revenues rise 27.6%

Vodafone Plc saw its second quarter service revenues from India grow around 27.6 per cent to £899 million (Rs 6,427 crore) from £704 million (Rs 5,033 crore) in the corresponding quarter last year. The growth includes a 2.3 percentage point benefit from Indus Towers — the group’s network sharing joint venture with other telecom majors like Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular.

The British telecom major’s Asia Pacific and West Asia’s Ebitda margin increased by nearly two percentage points reflecting better margins in India.

Recently, Vodafone received a notice from the Indian income tax department, pegging its tax liability at Rs 11,220 crore for a deal with Hutchinson Essar in 2007. Its plea was dismissed in the Bombay High Court, and the case is still pending in the Supreme Court.

Vodafone’s voice revenues from India increased by 2 per cent and data revenue went up by 40 per cent.

Messaging revenues doubled to £40 million (Rs 286 crore) from £23 million (Rs 164 crore).

It is, however, feeling the after-effects of the tariff war that had started a year ago, as the annualised churn rates is at 23 per cent for post-paid subscribers and 42 per cent for pre-paid subscribers.