Vodafone's India service revenue up by 16.7%

British telecom major Vodafone today said its December quarter service revenue from India rose 16.7 per cent to £963 million (Rs 7,029 crore) from £767 million (Rs 5,599 crore) in the same quarter last year. Revenue from voice went up by 20.7 per cent to £761 million (Rs 5,555 crore) from £630 million (Rs 4,599 crore).

The company said the growth was driven by an 8.7 million increase in net customer additions during the three months to December, strong mobile voice usage, partially offset by a fall in mobile voice pricing due to strong competition. Data revenue rose 52 per cent while messaging revenue went up by 68 per cent.

“This is the fifth successive quarter of service revenue growth improvement, with strong results from India, Turkey, the UK and Vodacom,” said Vodafone Chief Executive Vittorio Colao in a statement. The second-largest telecom player in India also reported a higher subscriber churn at 21.1 per cent.

The company said the development of 3G network was underway and that it had planned a commercial launch during the January-March quarter.

Vodafone also said lifting of import restrictions in India and the deployment of 3G network were the key factors for the 14.5 per cent rise in the group’s capital expenditure.

The company, which is fighting a high-profile tax case with Indian revenue authorities, said it had deposited Rs 2,500 crore and provided a guarantee for Rs 8,500 crore with the Supreme Court, which was hearing the case.

The operator said it was not liable for its 2007 deal where it acquired Hutchinson’s 67 per cent stake. The company, however, did not comment on the ongoing war of words with the Essar group over the valuation of the latter’s stake.