Vodafone touts Aust customer growth

Vodafone Australia has announced growth in Australian customer numbers, saying its Vodafone red SIM and Vodafone live! products exceeded expectations over the Christmas period.

The figures show 55 percent of its customers were prepaid for the December 2003 quarter, compared to 53 percent during the previous quarter. Total customer numbers were 2,676,000 for the December quarter, compared to 2,627,000 compared to the previous quarter.

Grahame Maher, CEO at Vodafone Australia, told iTnews that he expected to see continued growth during the current quarter, although not as high as that achieved for the quarter ending December 2003. He said that its Vodafone live! products would be among the areas the telco was currently focussing on. One of its other focuses would be the red SIM, “where we're aggressively attacking the fixed line market and changing the way people use their mobile,” Maher said.

According to a statement, 90 percent of Vodafone Australia's contract customers were active for the December 2003 quarter, compared to 91 percent the previous quarter. For the December 2003 quarter 90 percent of its prepaid customers were active, compared to 93 percent for the September 2003 quarter.

Maher said that active customers were those who used their account for incoming and outgoing calls during the month.

In a statement about the figures Maher commented: “We had a great Christmas with Vodafone red SIM and Vodafone live! exceeding out expectations both in customer numbers and recharge values.”

“Once again we've seen a steady increase in our customer numbers this quarter, but most importantly this is profitable growth and not just numbers for numbers' sake.”