New Delhi: Country's second largest operator Vodafone India's revenue grew over 11 percent to Rs 20,746.9 crore for the first six months of the current fiscal on higher data uptake, customer additions and stable pricing.
The company had reported total revenue of Rs 18,571.1 crore in the April-September period of last fiscal.
The data (Browsing) revenue was Rs 2,552.5 crore in the first half of 2014-15 and it now contributes 13.5 percent to the company's service revenue.
"We have delivered a healthy double digit revenue growth driven by strong customer additions and robust growth in data," Vodafone India MD and CEO Marten Pieters said here.
It has 57.2 million total data users, of which 13.6 million are 3G users. Vodafone had 174 million subscribers at the end of September.
The company said data drivers include factors such as higher smartphone penetration and strategic partnerships with handset manufacturers and application providers to provide innovative value propositions and better customer experience.
Data average revenue per user (ARPU) grew to Rs 142, as compared to Rs 130 in the same period last year. The average revenue per minute stood at 49.9 paisa and ARPU at Rs 200.
Vodafone has a network of over 1,24,000 sites.
On spectrum availability, Pieters said its inadequacy is one of the most serious challenges facing the mobile industry.
He reiterated his stand that auctions should be conducted when there is enough spectrum available.
"We agree and the regulator also agrees that doing an auction when there is no additional spectrum available is just not the right thing to do...It would be a disappointment for the industry," Pieters said.
He added that given the situation for Vodafone, it is very easy for competition to drive the prices up.
If operators have to pay such high price for spectrum alone, then investments in network suffer, he said, adding that the government should make more radiowaves available.
"...You milk the industry so far that there is kind of no money left to make investments in networks or you say enough is enough and you make sure that spectrum becomes cheaper... If you see enough supply of spectrum, prices go down, then there will be more money available for operators to invest in networks," Pieters said.
The telecom industry is already witnessing decreased investments in networks.
"...Only the top three are investing and the new one (Reliance Jio) which is yet to start the services," he added.
The company made a capital expenditure of Rs 3,509.1 crore during H1 FY'15.
Pieters said the Digital India programme of the government might be affected due to lack of adequate spectrum.
Vodafone said it would start testing 4G technology next year but is not in a hurry to launch the services.
"We have bought 4G spectrum in 5 circles and we are starting to test 4G technology next year. But I am really not in a hurry because if I have to make an investment decision right now between 4G and 3G, I will prioritise 3G because thats where the demand is," Pieters said.
Asked whether over-the-top (OTT) players such as Whatsapp are eating into the revenues of mobile operators, he said there should be a level playing field for everybody.
"If I want to launch an application, I need to take the permission from Department of Telecom but these players did not require to take any such permission. So what I am saying is that there should be a level playing field," Pieters said.
He added however that OTT players are driving the data growth for mobile operators.
Asked about mobile tariffs, Pieters said the country has seen declining tariffs for 18-19 years and they should not go down any further. The tariffs need to rise at least at the rate of inflation, he added.
The company also said it is open to inorganic growth given that the deal makes a sense financially.
Vodafone said that in the last five years, it has invested close to Rs 60,000 crore and has contributed Rs 70,000 crore to the exchequer.
Vodafone India has slipped to the fourth position as a contributor to Vodafone Group's revenue as Vodafone Italy has taken that position. Earlier it was on the third place.
Asked about the reason for the slip, CFO of Vodafone India Thomas Reisten said that it was because of Vodafone's acquiring more stake in Vodafone Italy.
Also, the Indian unit's services revenue now do not include income from Indus Towers, an infrastructure joint venture between Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.
Overall, the UK-based Vodafone Group has reported a revenue of 20,752 million pound for the six months ended September 30.
