Vodafone Ireland reports rise in fixed-based business

Ireland's biggest mobile operator Vodafone has said its fixed-base business grew to 267,000 customers in the three months ending September 30th, up 2.8 per cent on the preceding quarter and a rise of 7.6 per cent year-on-year.

The group reported average revenue per user (ARPU) - a standard metric by which telecom companies rate their performance - of €29.3 million, up 2.4 per cent on the preceding quarter.

Vodafone, which has 2.3 million customers in Ireland, of which 2.1 million are mobile subscribers, said 65 per cent of its customers now have a smartphone, up 2.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter and by 13.7 per cent compared to the same quarter a year earlier.

The company said mobile data usage rose strongly in the three months under review with a 17 per cent increase compared to the preceding month. Mobile data usage was up 55 per cent year-on-year.

Vodafone said 78 per cent of its mobile subscribers now regularly use mobile data. The group said better value mobile data package plans had resulted in contract data users increasing by 28 per cent in the last quarter, with enterprise mobile data users rising by 3 per cent.

The group said 4G coverage was now available to 75 per cent of the population.

During the quarter under review, the company and ESB signed a joint venture agreement to invest €450 million in building a 100 per cent fibre-to-the-building broadband network across Ireland.

Vodafone’s parent meanwhile reported a sharp improvement in its main quarterly revenue measurement as demand for mobile services improved in its big European markets.

The group reported second-quarter organic service revenue, which strips out items like handset sales and currency movements, down 1.5 per cent, compared with the near 4 per cent or 5 per cent falls it recorded in the last six quarters. It was also better than the consensus of a fall of 2.8 per cent.

The world’s second-biggest mobile operator said it now expected its full-year core earnings to be between £11.6 billion and £11.9 billion, compared with the previous guidance of between £11.4 billion and £11.9 billion.

Vodafone shares jumped 5.5 per cent in trading after publication of its results.

Additional reporting: Reuters