telecommunications
Vodafone is somewhat on the rise in mobile communications
Things have recently been looking up again at Vodafone. photo
© Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
Vodafone has had a difficult time, a new boss wants to bring the company into shape and reduce the gap to the competition.
Although we have not yet communicated any figures for the end of the year for our competitors Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica Deutschland (O2), they each gained around 400,000 mobile customers in the autumn quarter. They are likely to continue to grow.
Things are looking up again at Vodafone; the company has not completely overcome its difficult phase, as other company figures from the third financial quarter, which runs from October to December, show. Mobile service revenue in Germany fell by 0.5 percent, although new customers were added and the company had recorded a slight increase of 0.7 percent in the previous quarter. A company spokesman explained the loss by saying that customer transactions are always only reflected in the revenue with a time lag. There would also be seasonal fluctuations in payments that other telecommunications companies make for using the Vodafone network and a regulatory effect.
Landline customers lost
In addition to mobile communications, Vodafone also offers landline internet. The company had raised prices in this area and therefore lost customers. Adding both areas together, service revenue increased by 0.3 percent to 2.9 billion euros in Germany in the past quarter. The operating result in this country was not communicated. Germany boss Philippe Rogge rated the company’s development positively. “We are continuing our recovery course and stabilizing our business,” said the Belgian.
The Düsseldorf company has around 15,000 employees, a third of them in the North Rhine-Westphalia state capital. For the British Vodafone group, to which the German subsidiary belongs, the Federal Republic is the most important market. It accounts for almost a third of the global telecommunications provider’s total revenue.