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Vodafone India aims to get more spectrum in all circles

Vodafone India aims to get more spectrum in all circles

By Press Trust of India | Updated: 13 November 2013 14:32 IST

Vodafone India, country's second largest telecom operator on Wednesday posted 16.5 percent jump in revenue at Rs. 20,476.3 crore for 6 months ended September 30 on account of strong growth in voice minutes and data usage.

India has become the third largest contributor to the UK-based Vodafone Group's services revenues.

The company had logged Rs. 17,581.3 crore revenue in the first half of the previous fiscal, 2012-13.

Its operating profit or EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) improved by 30.6 percent to Rs. 6,519.1 crore in H1, 2013-14, compared to Rs. 4,993 crore in the same period of the last fiscal year.

The company attributed its revenue growth to voice minutes and data usage. These, however, were partially offset by the effect of seasonality and regulatory changes.

"Increase in our margins is coming from several sources, with one important one (being) a clear focus on acquisition of more profitable customers, we are also focussed on growing the use of mobile Internet," Vodafone India Managing Director and CEO Marten Pieters said at a press conference in New Delhi.

On revenue growth, he said it is driven by hardening of rates, exponential growth in data and good subscriber base.

"The service revenue has grown 13.5 percent but our data revenue has grown much faster at 76.5 percent. The data growth has been driven by the increase in smartphones," he added.

The service revenue of the company grew by 13.5 percent to Rs. 18,481 crore during the 6-month period from Rs. 16,282.6 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Pieters said data continues to contribute strongly to business, accounts for 9.0 percent of service revenue in Q2, 2013-14 fiscal.

Pieters said most of the subscribers in India will use Internet via mobile phones but the company doesn't have 3G spectrum in all the circles.

He said Vodafone will try to get spectrum in all the circles next year.

"We count on pending approval for spectrum trading and the fresh 2100MHz auction in 2014," he said.

Pieters said the environment in the country is more positive these days and a regulatory clarity is emerging.

"I am more positive about the environment than before.

Vodafone has always asked the government two basic things, we need more spectrum and allocate it in a transparent way and we want a more level playing field, less opportunities for arbitrage created by ambiguous regulations. We do make progress on both fronts," he said.

He said that all is still not fine on the regulatory front.

There are issues related to license extension and re- farming, one time spectrum charges and 3G inter-circle roaming which need to be sorted out, Pieters said.

The total subscriber base of the company at the end of H1, FY'14 stood at 15.55 crore.

The company saw increase in voice revenue per minutes at 46.7 paise during H1, FY'14, from 44 paise in H1, FY'13.

The average revenue of Vodafone per user in a month stood at Rs. 200.

The net debt of the company stood at Rs. 290 billion (Rs. 29,000 crore) as of September 30.

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