Posted by Kellie on 13 February 2012
Nearly half of all Vodafone's UK customers are on contract with the mobile phone giant, while an almost equal number use the Vodafone mobile network on a pay-as-you-go basis. The services and pricing offered by this mobile phone network remain popular and competitive, as evidenced by the fact that during the final quarter of 2011 Vodafone saw little decrease in its proportion of market share.
Still, the company's CEO, Vittorio Colao, does have his worries. Due to the hard times Brits are experiencing now and the prospect of economic uncertainty in the future, many UK residents are becoming more careful about how they use their mobile phones. The end result of this behaviour is to trim some excess from their bills so they pay a little bit less each month. According to Colao, "The UK has seen slightly weaker consumer confidence, translating into lower out-of-bundle usage and lower roaming revenues as UK consumers cut back on overseas travel."
There is a silver lining for Vodafone, however. The growth of the smartphone market has led to increasing revenues for data access, with Vodafone seeing an increase in the past year of more than £6 billion. That trend is likely to continue, at least in the short term, as more and more consumers realise how useful it can be to have access to the internet on a continual, on-demand basis.