Vodacom`s total customer base increased to 12.4 million by the end of June, with the international operations accounting for 14.8% of that number.
The cellular network operator says in an update for the three months to 30 June that its total customer base was 10.8% larger than at the end of the preceding quarter.
Vodacom SA`s customer number grew by 8.8% from 9.73 million to 10.58 million. Of these, 9.04 million were prepaid (a 9.2% increase) and 8.28 million were contract customers (6.8% increase).
Customers in other African countries numbered 1.85 million - 23.7% more than the 1.49 million at the end of the March quarter.
However, average revenue per user (ARPU) declined in both local and other African operations.
ARPU in SA fell from R177 per month to R164 per month. The group says this was mainly because of the higher proportion of prepaid customers in the total base, seasonal fluctuations in customer spending patterns, and the higher proportion of inactive customers and lower churn resulting from a change in Vodacom`s disconnection policy.
ARPU in the other operations - Tanzania, Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique - declined mainly because of competitive trading conditions, seasonal spending patterns and rand strength.
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