Vodafone passes 200 million barrier

Mobile phone giant Vodafone celebrated a milestone today after it said its worldwide customer base had passed the 200 million mark.

The level was reached at the end of this month after the company added 8.7 million mobile phone customers in the three months to the end of December.

Vodafone added that its European market remained challenging, but pointed out underlying growth trends improved slightly in the UK, where it said it had been successful with more competitively priced offerings.

The group reiterated its hope of organic growth in mobile revenues of between 5% and 6.5% in the year to the end of March. The rate was 6.1% in the quarter, with growth of 0.9% in Europe offset by a rise of 14.4% in other regions.

Vodafone works out its customer numbers on a proportionate basis, so the figure reflects the fact that Vodafone may have a stake of less than 100% in some of its regional operations.

Chief executive Arun Sarin said: “This is both an important milestone for Vodafone and a great achievement by our people.”