Vodafone 2016 Annual Report Download - page 12

Chief Executive’s strategic review
Review of the year
We have made good progress on a number
of fronts in the last year. We have signicantly
expanded our mobile and xed data network
coverage and quality, leading to strong
growth in data usage; we have maintained
encouraging commercial momentum, with
consistent customer growth; and we have
returned to organic growth in both revenue
and EBITDA, thanks in part to strong
cost efciency. In emerging markets,
we are achieving sustained growth supported
by thestrength of our brand, our networks
and our distribution. In Europe, the majority
of our markets have returned to growth,
reecting a more stable regulatory and
macroeconomic environment and better
competitive performance than in recent years.
Our key strategic drivers – data, convergence
and enterprise – are at the heart of this
continued improvement.
Project Spring, our two year £19 billion
investment programme, which was designed
to placeVodafone at the forefront of the
growth in mobile data and the increasing trend
towards the convergence of xed and mobile
services, came to its close in March 2016.
Highlights include:
a 4G population coverage of 87% in our
European markets, up from just 32%
in September 2013
a Extensive modernisation and capacity
improvements, with 93% of our European
network now ‘single RAN’ and 90% with
high capacity backhaul
a 3G population coverage of 95% in targeted
urban areas in India, and 4G launched in the
last few months
a 91% of all customer data sessions in Europe
now at speeds of 3 Mbps or better – the rate
needed for high denition video streaming
a Dropped call rates down by 40% since
September 2013 – so customers
on average now only lose one call in 217
a Fibre networks that provide high
speed broadband to 72 million homes
in Europe; including 30 million on our
own infrastructure
a Further expansion in enterprise products
and services, with IP-VPN extended
to 70 countries, IoT connectivity platform
to 30 countries and cloud & hosting
to 12 countries
During the year we also signicantly stepped
up our focus on improving our customers’
experience of our network and customer
service, in order to bring to life the clear
customer benets of our investments.
As measured by Net Promoter Score,
we ended the year as the leader in 13 out
of 21 markets and improved in 15 of these
markets: good progress, but still much
to do to build clear differentiation.
Vittorio Colao
Chief Executive
Responding to
a changing world
It has been a year of continued progress, with signs
of recovery in Europe and continued growth in emerging
markets. Our Project Spring investment programme
is now complete.
Executing our strategy to capture growth opportunities
Data Enterprise
Our strategy
We aim to be a converged communications leader, investing to provide our customers with differentiated network access and excellent
customer service. Together with capturing the scale and efciency benets of our global presence, we aim to generate attractive returns,
enabling us to sustain our investment levels, further increase our network differentiation and meet our customers’ high expectations.
Convergence
Vodafone Group Plc
Annual Report 2016
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