Customers make Vodafone the mobile choice
Vodafone New Zealand Ltd attributes continued focus on giving customers choices as a key reason for fantastic results
achieved in the last financial year.
Managing Director Tim Miles says the past year’s success is a continuation of the strong growth achieved since Vodafone
came into the market four and a half years ago.
“We started out in this market offering customers a real alternative which they responded to. We’ve stayed true to that
promise of choice, continually striving to offer products, services and innovative solutions to suit business and
lifestyle demands.
“There are now more Vodafone customers, spending more on our products and services than ever before and we’ll continue
to invest back into New Zealand to further expand these services we offer our customers.”
The key figures are: Revenue has increased by 20%. Customer numbers have increased by 194,069 from the last financial
year to 1,288,776. Total customer numbers at the end of the previous year were 1,094,707. Vodafone now has 51.1% market
share by customer numbers. ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) for prepay and postpay customers combined has risen by 4%.
Prepay rose from $287 to $314, post-pay from $1812 to $1866. EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and
Amortisation) has increased by 34%.
Miles says the results reflect the worldwide trend towards increased use of mobile communications, data and solutions.
“People are enthusiastically adopting mobile as the way to do business and run their lives. Our increase in data shows
customers are expanding the ways they use mobile, ” he says.
Data revenue has increased from 9.1% to 12.7% of Vodafone’s total revenue over the year.
Vodafone introduced initiatives during ‘02/’03 including the co-funded broadband trial with Walker Wireless - offering
customers wireless services; mTicket – paperless, mobile ticketing; World of Difference – innovative corporate social
responsibility programme; Mobilise campaign – communicating Vodafone’s offering to business customers. The launch of the
picture messaging service, PXT and the information service Sim2 gave customers a taste of what was to come with the
launch of Vodafone live! in April.
Vodafone live! now has more than one million customers world-wide and has received independent acclaim at the GSM World
Association Awards in Cannes for best consumer application and best wireless handset. Research analysts Credit Suisse
First Boston assessed Vodafone live! after release in Europe concluding the service is delivering on its promise and
that it positioned Vodafone significantly ahead of its competitors with its mobile data services.
Vodafone live! is one example of the benefits of Vodafone New Zealand being part of Vodafone Group, which invests
significantly in the development of new products and services to meet the needs of customers.
“This means we can continually offer our customers the best the mobile world has to offer,” says Miles.
The coming year will see Vodafone launching new products and services, continuing focus on adding value to the strong
consumer customer base, building on success in corporate and SME markets by offering mobile solutions and ensuring
Vodafone staff are equipped to deliver consistent customer benefit and value.