Vodafone 2015 Annual Report Download - page 28

Our strategy (continued)
Consumer
Emerging Markets
Today, fast growing emerging markets in Asia and Africa generate a third
of our revenue. We believe that these markets provide a signicant future
growth opportunity, driven by rising wealth, expanding populations and
growing demand for mobile services.
Increasing our network quality
We are delivering strong growth in emerging
markets, reected in a 7% rise in customers
over the year to 321 million, representing
72% of the total. However, mobile penetration
is still less than 100%, compared with nearly
140% in Europe, so we expect to see a lot more
growth going forward.
To support and drive this growth opportunity
we have made signicant progress
on upgrading and further extending our
mobile network, with 24,000 2G and
30,000 3G radio sites added in AMAP since
Project Spring commenced. As an example
of progress, our 3G coverage in targeted urban
areas across India is now 90%, and customers
are experiencing a 44% gain in download
speeds. In addition we have launched 4G
networks in four emerging markets and
in selected countries we also provide even
faster xed bre services to urban areas.
Driving the data opportunity
Data usage in emerging markets is expanding
rapidly (doubling in the year) due to the growth
in customers, the expanding network and the
greater range and affordability of handsets.
During the year we made good progress.
We increased the number of data users by 21%
to 114 million, which is two thirds of the total
across the Company; we trebled the number
of 3G data users in India to 19 million; Vodacom
delivered a 16% increase in active data users
to 26 million or 39% of total customers;
and smartphone penetration in Turkey rose
to 46% from 34% last year.
Enhancing
customer experience
We have a significant distribution footprint
in emerging markets with 10,000 branded
or franchised stores. We have modernised
nearly 1,300 of these stores and are targeting
to reach around 2,300 by 2016. In India we have
the largest footprint of 1.8 million recharge
outlets, significantly more than our nearest
competitor. In South Africa we introduced
webchat, so customers can resolve their queries
online, and enhanced the MyVodacom app for
smartphones, which allows customers to view
their account balance or top up their account,
with new features such as data top-ups.
To ensure we provide value for money in our
emerging markets we offer targeted price
plans based on customers’ usage patterns,
and in South Africa we reduced prepaid prices
by 18%, leading to a signicant uplift in usage.
M-Pesa: increasing access
to mobile nancial services
Our mobile money transfer and payment
service, M-Pesa, enables people who have
access to a mobile phone, but limited
or no access to a bank account, to send and
receive money, purchase goods, pay bills,
and in some markets save money and
receive short-term loans. M-Pesa is available
in nine countries via a network of 273,000
agents. We now have 19.9 million active
M-Pesa customers, an increase of 18% over
last year. It represents around 20% of the
service revenue and over half of the mobile
customer base in established M-Pesa markets
such as Kenya and Tanzania. During the year
we launched our rst international money
transfer corridor between Tanzania and Kenya;
we also relaunched M-Pesa in South Africa and
completed the national roll-out in India.
Context
a Our emerging markets are India, South
Africa, Turkey, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Qatar,
Tanzania and several other southern
African countries
a These markets are growing quickly –
reected in a 20% growth in customers
to 321 million in just three years
a The demand for mobile data in emerging
markets is growing rapidly – with data
volumes doubling this year
a There is strong demand for mobile
money services as many people
in these markets have little or no access
to banking services
Where we are going
a We are increasing and upgrading our base
station sites to improve network coverage
and quality
a We are managing the growing demand
for data through the deployment of high
speed mobile networks and bre based
services to enterprise customers
a We are continuing to invest in market
leading distribution and value for
money offers
a We are enhancing our leading mobile
money service, M-Pesa, by increasing
the range of mobile nancial services
it provides
3
Project Spring achievements
a Extending our AMAP 3G/4G footprint
(excluding India) to 82% population
coverage (2016 target 84%)
a Growing 3G coverage in targeted urban
areas in India to 90% (2016 target 95%)
a Taking 4G to Kenya, Lesotho and Qatar,
with more emerging markets to follow
a Increasing M-Pesa to 19.9 million users
23%
of service revenue from consumers in emerging markets (and a further 6% from enterprise customers)
Mobile customers in million
emerging markets
275.3
2013 2014 2015
302.4 321.4
0
300
200
100
400
Data users in emerging markets million
68.2
2013 2014 2015
94.6
114.2
0
80
40
120
Vodafone Group Plc
Annual Report 2015
26