Vodafone Turkey props up European counterparts
ISTANBUL - Reuters
Customers wait outside a Vodafone store in Calcutta, India in this January photo. AP photo
In comparison to Vodafone’s operations in debt-stricken European countries like Spain and Italy, Vodafone Turkey’s third quarter financial results are helping to prop up the telecom giant.The company announced yesterday a 23.5 percent increase in its service revenues for the October to December third quarter 2011 to 2012 fiscal year. In addition, the company increased its subscribers by 163,000 in the quarter, bringing the total number of subscribers to 18 million.
According to the company’s financial results, the increase in the paid subscriber base and the impressive growth in data revenues contributed to the solid growth in service revenues. Pre-paid subscribers accounted for 68.9 percent of the total subscriber base.
In Europe, however, the telecom operator’s service revenues, down 1.7 percent, were hit by weaker consumer confidence in Spain, Italy and Greece, which pulled down the better performances in the stronger markets of Germany and Britain. Overall, however, the group benefited from strong growth in Turkey and India and continued demand by customers for Internet data services, according to Reuters.
Vodafone announced earlier in the week that it had pulled out of merger talks with smaller rival Wind Hellas in Greece but said it would now explore options to share networks or other forms of cooperation.
