Vodacom Group (Proprietary) Limited ("Vodacom" or "Vodacom Group") (unlisted), South Africa's
leading mobile communications group, in which Telkom has a 50.0% holding, today announced a
quarterly update for the three months ended December 31, 2005.
As at December 31, 2005, Vodacom Group recorded 21.5 million customers across its networks
operating in South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Lesotho,
reflecting a 12.4% increase in the three months since September 30, 2005. The rapid growth in the
customer base is a result of high gross customer connections of 3.4 million, combined with low
churn for the quarter. The Group's international operations comprised 3.9 million customers, or
18.1% of the total customer base.
Vodacom South Africa increased its customer base by a healthy 11.6% since September 30, 2005 to
17.6 million customers in an increasingly competitive market. Vodacom South Africa's customer
base comprises 2.3 million contract customers and 15.3 million prepaid customers, reflecting
increases of 7.7% and 12.2% since September 30, 2005, respectively. South African ARPU declined
to R144 per month for the nine months to December 31, 2005, compared to R147 per month for the
six months which ended September 30, 2005.
Vodacom South Africa was the first operator to introduce a commercial 3G offering into the local
market a year ago. The take up by customers continues to be encouraging, with the number of 3G
Vodafone Mobile Connect data cards on the network as at December 31, 2005 at 26.6 thousand
(September 30, 2005: 18.7 thousand). The number of 3G base stations has increased to 1,460
(September 30, 2005: 1,122).
Vodacom South Africa customers, 3-month inactive customer statistics, and year-to-date ARPU
and churn as at December 31, 2005 compared to September 30, 2005 are as follows :
Vodacom South Africa | September 30, 2005 | December 31, 2005 | % change |
Customers (thousands) | 15,773 | 17,600 | 11.6 |
Contract | 2,092 | 2,254 | 7.7 |
Prepaid | 13,653 | 15,316 | 12.2 |
Community services telephones | 28 | 30 | 7.1 |
ARPU (ZAR) | 147 | 144 | (2.0) |
Contract | 588 | 581 | (1.2) |
Prepaid | 71 | 65 | (8.5) |
Community services telephones | 1,960 | 1,868 | (4.7) |
3-month inactive customers as % of total customers | 7.9 | 7.5 | (0.4 pts) |
Contract | 1.8 | 1.8 | - |
Prepaid | 8.9 | 8.4 | (0.5 pts) |
Churn (%) | 17.4 | 18.1 | 0.7 pts |
Contract | 9.3 | 9.2 | (0.1 pts) |
Prepaid | 18.7 | 19.5 | 0.8 pts |
Other African Operations | September 30, 2005 | December 31, 2005 | % change |
Vodacom Tanzania | |||
Customers (thousands) | 1,606 | 1,859 | 15.8 |
Contract | 6 | 7 | 16.7 |
Prepaid | 1,597 | 1,849 | 15.8 |
Public phones | 3 | 3 | |
ARPU (ZAR) | 73 | 71 | (2.7) |
Churn (%) | 28.7 | 28.4 | (0.3 pts) |
Other African Operations (continued) | September 30, 2005 | December 31, 2005 | % change |
Vodacom Lesotho | |||
Customers (thousands) | 171 | 190 | 11.3 |
Contract | 3 | 3 | - |
Prepaid | 166 | 185 | 11.4 |
Public phones | 2 | 2 | - |
ARPU (ZAR) | 77 | 78 | 1.3 |
Churn (%) | 23.4 | 23.3 | (0.1 pts) |
Vodacom Congo | |||
Customers (thousands) | 1,236 | 1,408 | 13.9 |
Contract | 11 | 12 | 9.1 |
Prepaid | 1,209 | 1,379 | 14.1 |
Public phones | 16 | 17 | 6.3 |
ARPU (ZAR) | 89 | 90 | 1.1 |
Churn (%) | 30.5 | 28.4 | (2.1 pts) |
Vodacom Mozambique | |||
Customers (thousands) | 336 | 438 | 30.4 |
Contract | 5 | 6 | 20.0 |
Prepaid | 331 | 432 | 30.5 |
ARPU (ZAR) | 41 | 40 | (2.4) |
Churn (%) | 34.5 | 33.0 | (1.5 pts) |
Johannesburg
24 January 2006