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Vodafone said today it added 44,000 net new customers in the March quarter, lifting its mobile phone market share to 53.7 per cent from 52.5 per cent a year earlier.
Vodafone, which owns one of just two mobile networks in New Zealand, said its new customers matched the same quarter a year earlier, but were below the December quarter's 89,000 additions.
Rival Telecom has not released its March quarter mobile customer numbers, but in the December quarter it signed up more than 100,000 new customers.
While Vodafone's market share was higher than a year earlier, it was below the September and December quarters' 54.5 per cent and 54 per cent respectively.
Quarterly average revenue per user fell 3.7 per cent from a year earlier to $49.3 million.
For those on accounts, the average monthly bill fell to $122.80 from $138.50 a year ago while pre-paid customers' bills fell to $23.40 from $25.70.
Customers talked through 771 million minutes in the quarter, up from 602 million a year earlier.
The company attributed the increase in minutes to deals such as BestMate, where the customer pays a flat fee per month for unlimited calls to another nominated Vodafone customer.
For the year ended March, Vodafone added 176,000 net connections.
"One of the clear stand outs was our purchase of Ihug in October," chief executive Russell Stanners said.
"Ihug's strength in fixed-line broadband and calling, together with our mobile offering, means we are now able to offer total solutions -- landline and mobile -- to our customers," he said.
The company also launched 3G broadband internet in September.
The British-based global giant does not release financials for its New Zealand division.
- NZPA
