British mobile giant Vodafone said on October it wanted to expand its revenue base in the competitive New Zealand market, but was not focusing on fighting to defend its cell phone market share lead.
Vodafone said it had 1.92 million customers in New Zealand as at June 30, up 2 percent from 1.89 million at March 31. Its share of the mobile phone market was unchanged at 55.4 percent, against Telecom Corp of NZ which accounts for the remainder.
"Overall, we're focused on the absolute dollar growth of the company and the revenue growth is in line with the customer growth, so we're pleased with that," Vodafone NZ Finance Director David Sullivan told Reuters.
Vodafone NZ boosted annual net profit by 18 percent to NZ$182 million ($126 million) for the year ended March 31, according to its latest financial figures, on a 12 percent increase in revenue to NZ$1.2 billion.
But Vodafone has been unable to match customer growth by Telecom after the country's top-ranked telecommunications firm launched its high-speed third generation (3G) mobile service nine months ahead of Vodafone, in November 2004.
Until then, Vodafone had led the New Zealand cellular market with products such as text messaging and global roaming, increasing its mobile market share from 17 percent when it bought its network from US phone company BellSouth Corp in 1998.
It is now hoping to boost customer growth with its wide range of 3G handsets and services, and plans to continue investing in its network following the "hundreds of millions" of dollars spent on its network and services in the 2004/05 financial year.
"We're not going to get caught up in the chase for quarterly share. Telecom has done a bit of catch-up from their previous years' performance, so there's a natural correction in the market," Sullivan said.
In the three months ended June 30, Telecom added a net 74,000 mobile customers compared with Vodafone's 38,000.
Vodafone's average revenue per customer has fallen, partly due to the customer mix and the competitive market place.
"We're focused on the growth of mobile as a share of the total mobile telecommunications market. We see plenty of growth potential in the future, so we're looking for revenue growth in the overall market," Sullivan said.
Vodafone, which is New Zealand's number two telecoms firm by revenue behind Telecom, accounts for less than 20 percent of the total New Zealand telecommunications market.
TelstraClear, a full-service telecoms firm owned by Australia's Telstra Ltd, is third-ranked in New Zealand and has said it is considering launching its own 3G service for a greater share of the NZ$2 billion mobile market.