BUMPER CHRISTMAS QUARTER TAKES VODAFONE TO OVER 78 MILLION
CUSTOMERS WORLD-WIDE
Vodafone Group Plc ("Vodafone") today announces record
customer growth in the quarter ended 31 December 2000.
Overall, 13.2 million customers were gained during the
quarter, bringing the total proportionate customer base to
78.7 million. Of the new additions, 7.9 million were
derived from organic growth and 5.3 million from increases
in shareholdings made during the quarter.
Commenting, Chris Gent, Chief Executive, Vodafone Group Plc,
said: "The continuing success of our strategy is clearly
demonstrated by yet further excellent increases in customer
additions throughout the world during this last quarter.
These figures show strong underlying growth from virtually
all of our networks and are further enhanced by our initial
investment in China and our increased ownership in Spain and
Japan. We are well on track to exceeding 50% customer
growth for the fourth successive year."Europe
Vodafone's largest region in terms of customers, Europe,
reported strong growth during the period with more than 5.0
million net new connections. Its customer base at the end
of December 2000 of over 46 million includes 3.6 million
gained from the increased holding in Spain.
Julian Horn-Smith, CEO, Vodafone Europe, commented: "The
last quarter saw significant customer growth throughout
Europe with particularly robust performances from Omnitel in
Italy and D2 in Germany. Net additions for D2 in December
at just under 1.3 million were in line with ourexpectations."
UK, Middle East and Africa
The UK, Middle East and Africa Region added a total of 1.8
million net new customers. The UK contributed over 1.4
million, of which 1.2 million were Pay As You Talk
customers. The region's total customer base at the end of
the period was 13.8 million.
Peter Bamford, Chief Executive, UK, ME&A, said: "Our record
performance in the UK was more than 30% higher than the
equivalent period in 1999. Particularly pleasing was the
growth in net contract customers of 187,000, a record
figure. We now have over 4 million contract customers inthe UK."
Americas and AsiaNet new customer connections stood at 749,000 in the
Americas and Asia Region. Verizon Wireless continued to
grow strongly and as a result of the purchase of a 15% stake
in Japan Telecom, an additional contribution of 873,000 is
included in the total base of 16.3 million.
Bill Keever, President, Americas & Asia, commented: "Verizon
Wireless had a strong quarter, adding more than 522,000 net
new proportionate customers. More than 50 per cent of
Verizon Wireless customers now use its digital services. In
Japan, despite intense competition, J-Phone maintained its
market share and continued to add data customers at a rapidpace."Pacific
Vodafone Pacific increased its customer base to 2.6 million
with more than 326,000 additional net new customers.
Brian Clark, CEO, Vodafone Pacific, stated: "Growth
continues to be fuelled by the growing penetration of mobile
phones in our markets, a marked reduction in churn and by
substitution from fixed-line to mobile networks." |
