Vodafone customer base grows

Mobile phone company, Vodafone has revealed that it gained 1.3 million customers in the three months from January to March with customer base growth of 22% during the twelve months to the end of March 2002.

Its worldwide customer base now tops 101 million, with more than 18 million gained over the year as a result of this growth.

While average revenue per user (ARPU) is a key measure of business growth and efficiency for the mobile phone industry, in recent months, phone firms have shifted away from targeting pre-paid customers, who tend to spend less, to concentrate on higher spending customers on year-long contracts.

However, for Vodafone, it appears to be working, with ARPU at least steady, even if it is not rising. Commenting on this, chief executive Sir Christopher Gent said: "This year has seen ARPU stabilise in our major markets, ahead of our previous expectations, even though customer growth has been better than anticipated.

"The improvement in mix towards higher quality customers and the continued adoption of data services provide a solid base for an expected improvement in ARPU in most of our major European markets in the year ahead."

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