Vodafone's mobile revenues registered an 11 per cent fall in the final three months of 2011 as service difficulties and increased competition from rivals prompted customers to switch providers.
For the quarter Vodafone lost 30,000 customers, reducing its total to 3.36 million, and shrinking its base by about 9.3 per cent from the year-earlier total of 3.6 million, the company's UK parent revealed last night.
The slide in revenue mirrored the annual sales gain by Telstra yesterday for its mobile unit, which 11 per cent, as Australia's biggest telco stepped up efforts to grab market share.
Vodafone merged its Australian unit with Hutchison in June 2009, lifting the combined number of customers from 6.3 million to peak at 7.4 million a year later. Since then, however, the operator has lost favour with users because of poor service in some regions.
The combined venture, Vodafone Hutchison Australia, has spent $1 billion upgrading its network to boost capacity but still suffering poor customer satisfaction, Vodafone PLC noted overnight.
"Despite improvements in the network and customer service in Australia, customer sentiment and a highly competitive market continued to adversely impact service revenue growth, which declined 11.1 per cent in the quarter," Vodafone's announcement to the London Stock Exchange stated.
VHA splits its number of customers with Hutchison, with Vodafone's 3.36 million users implying a total customer base of 6.72 million in Australia.
Australia was the worst performing subsidiary in Vodafone's "Other Africa, Middle East, Asia Pacific" division, which also includes New Zealand, Egypt, Ghana and Qatar.
Revenue growth in the New Zealand business was affected by regulatory changes and customers choosing cheaper plans. Service revenue in Egypt fell by 1.5 per cent "due to the impact of ongoing political and economic instability, mainly affecting inbound roaming revenue", the company noted.
Overall the company reported sales of 11.6 billion pounds ($17 billion) for the quarter, a 0.9 per cent increase.
"We are continuing to make progress in the key strategic areas of data, enterprise and emerging markets. Despite the further deterioration of the southern European economic environment during the quarter, our broad geographic mix is delivering a resilient overall performance. Our improved value perception, strong cash generation and healthy balance sheet give us confidence that we can continue to execute well," chief executive Vittorio Colao said.
