Vodafone Ireland has reported a total customer base of 2.4m for the quarter ended 30 June, driven by smartphones and data usage.
The company’s mobile customers at the end of June amounted to 2.1m.
The number of Vodafone Ireland customers using smartphones on the network has increased year-on-year by 27pc, which contributed to 65pc of all Vodafone Ireland customers now using mobile data on their devices – an increase of 20.5pc year-on-year.
Vodafone Ireland also said this increase in data usage has been driven by the company’s investment in its mobile network.
At the end of June, Vodafone Ireland’s contract base rose 8.2pc on the same period last year and gained a net addition of more than 23,000 new customers in the quarter. The introduction of Vodafone Red, a range of new bill pay tariffs, is what primarily drove this growth, Vodafone Ireland said.
The company also launched fibre-powered broadband in the quarter, giving customers in fibre-enabled areas up to 10 times faster speeds than regular broadband, and has seen a 2.9pc year-on-year growth in its fixed line base.
Vodafone Group’s financial results
Vodafone Ireland’s parent company Vodafone Group posted a 3.5pc decrease in its key organic service revenue for the first quarter, as increasing competition in Europe undermined improvements in India.
The 3.5pc figure is a slight improvement from the record decrease of 4.2pc in the fourth quarter.
Vodafone Group’s organic service revenue fell 5.1pc in Germany, its biggest European market.
Service revenue dropped 10.6pc in Spain and sank 17.6pc in Italy, as customers made fewer calls and held onto older handsets in an effort to save money and in the face of competition from rival companies.
Service revenue in Britain decreased 4.5pc, but rose 1.6pc in the northern and central European division, which includes Ireland.
Vodafone building image via Shutterstock
