Vodacom expects its international operations, which account for half its subscriber base, to increase revenue and subscribers in the year ahead as it continues to push data services.
Vodacom's international operations accounted for 24.6% of group service revenue, a 10% increase year-on-year, at R15.3 billion. This, it says, was underpinned by strong customer growth of 13.7%, to 29.5 million customers.
Overall, service revenue declined by 2.7% as lower mobile termination rates wiped R2 billion off its revenue line.
At its international operations, Vodacom is driving growth through increasing data penetration, which CEO Shameel Joosub says offers great potential as many customers are not yet on data. He notes the company is also offering low-cost handsets in its international markets.
During the year to March, Vodacom's international operations boosted data traffic 185.8% and added just over two million new subscribers. Vodacom is also bolstering coverage in its international operations: Tanzania, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Lesotho.
Joosub notes Lesotho and Mozambique performed well, while Tanzania and the DRC faced stiff pricing competition. Vodacom notes it took corrective action in Tanzania to "repair" pricing, while the suspension of data and SMS services in the DRC, as a result of unrest, negatively affected performance in the last quarter of the year.
The company is expected to spend just more than R4 billion on its network in this financial year as it has been ramping up network investment. In the most recent year, it spent R4.7 billion. The group has been actively searching for acquisition opportunities in Africa, but has yet to find one at the correct price tag that will add value.
Joosub notes the company will also add more financial services products internationally once M-Pesa gains scale. The money payment solution currently has eight million customers across Vodacom's operations.
Vodacom also aims to roll out its enterprise services in key markets, driving aspects such as hosting, cloud and IT security services.
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