The largest mobile operator in the State, Vodafone, today reported that with the addition of 32,000 customers it has now more than two million Irish customers. For its half-year results the company saw service revenue increase 6.7pc and general ARPU (average revenue per user) levels of €53.
During the half year the company created 150 new jobs in Ireland, including 100 jobs in an International Customer Contact Centre and 50 technology jobs at its €8m Vodafone Group Data Centre in Clonshaugh, north Dublin.
At group level, Vodafone reported group revenue of £18.3bn sterling. Profit before taxation was £4.1bn sterling, after an impairment charge of £500m sterling.
Locally, the company said it had a total of 93,800 3G customer and that data revenue increased to 21.9pc of revenue.
The company said voice usage continued to grow with total voice volume rising by 1.3pc from 1.26 billion minutes to 1.28 billion minutes.
“This is a great performance in what is becoming an increasingly competitive market and we look forward to the next six months in which we will continue to drive the business forward by putting our customers at the centre of everything we do and continuing to focus on delivering value,” commented Vodafone Ireland CEO Teresa Elder.
As well as announcing its results, Vodafone announced a new business email service designed for individuals with internet-based email accounts and large enterprise customers with corporate server-based email. The new service will work across a range of devices including the Nokia 9300, IPAQ 6340, VPA Compact and the Sony Ericsson p910i.
By John Kennedy