Home / Business overview / Operating indicators

Operating indicators

South Africa key operating indicators
 
Year ended 31 March
% change
 
2010
 2009 2008
09/10
 08/09
Customers (thousand)1
26 262
 27 625 24 821
(4.9)
 11.3
Prepaid2
21 765
 23 679 21 280
(8.1)
 11.3
Contract
4 497
 3 946 3 541
14.0
 11.4
Gross connections (thousand)
9 328
 13 064 12 040
(28.6)
 8.5
Prepaid2
8 523
 12 359 11 258
(31.0)
 9.8
Contract
805
 705 782
14.2
 (9.8)
Churn (%)3
38.4
 40.1 42.3  
Prepaid2
43.7
 45.2 47.7  
Contract
8.8
 9.9 8.3    
Traffic (millions of minutes) 4
26 675
 24 383 22 769
9.4
 7.1
Outgoing
18 792
 16 582 15 323
13.3
 8.2
Incoming
7 883
 7 801 7 446
1.1
 4.8
MOU per month5
80
 79 78
1.3
 1.3
Prepaid2
55
 52 50
5.8
 4.0
Contract
220
 240 258
(8.3)
 (7.0)
Total ARPU (rand per month)6
132
 133 128
(0.8)
 3.9
Prepaid2
70
 70 65
–
 7.7
Contract
447
 474 486
(5.7)
 (2.5)
Messaging (million)7
5 949
 5 410 5 002
10.0
 8.2
Data connectivity customers (thousand)8
1 138
 800 495
42.3
 61.6
Number of employees
5 059
 4 930 4 504
2.6
 9.5
Estimated mobile penetration (%)9
100
 108 94  
Estimated mobile market share (%)
53
 53 55    
Notes:
1. Customer totals are based on the total number of customers registered on Vodacom's network, which have not been disconnected, including inactive customers, at the end of the period indicated. Prepaid customers inactive for three months were 10.8% (2009: 9.8%) at 31 March 2010. 
2. Prepaid figures have been restated to include community services in line with the Group’s parent’s policies.
3. Churn is calculated by dividing the annualised number of disconnections during the period by the average monthly total reported customer base during the period.
4. Traffic comprises total traffic registered on Vodacom's network, including bundled minutes, promotional minutes and outgoing international roaming calls, but excluding national roaming calls, incoming international roaming calls and calls to free services. 
5. Minutes of use per month is calculated by dividing the average monthly minutes (traffic) during the period by the average monthly total of reported customers during the period. Previously, minutes of use were based on billable minutes. 
6. Total ARPU is calculated by dividing average monthly recurring revenue by the average monthly total reported customers during the period. Total ARPU excludes revenue from equipment sales and non-service revenue. Prepaid and contract ARPU only includes recurring revenue generated from Vodacom customers. 
7. Messaging includes SMS, MMS and premium rate SMS/MMS.
8. A unique customer who has either taken a data contract or has a data bundle as part of the contract, hybrid contract, data messenger contract or prepaid package. The numbers for the comparative years have been restated to include data messenger. 
9. Estimated mobile penetration at 31 March 2010 would have decreased to 94% if the deletion of the approximately three million call-forward numbers subsequent to year end had been taken into consideration. 
 
International key operating indicators
 
Year ended 31 March
% change
 
2010
 2009 2008
09/10
 08/09
Customers (thousand)1
13 630
 11 989 9 173 13.7 30.7
Tanzania
7 270
 5 667 4 207 28.3 34.7
DRC
3 353
 4 170 3 289 (19.6) 26.8
Mozambique
2 329
 1 634 1 282 42.5 27.5
Lesotho
678
 518 395 30.9 31.1
Gross connections (thousand)
9 315
 7 860 5 913 18.5 32.9
Tanzania
4 488
 3 584 2 645 25.2 35.5
DRC
2 567
 2 773 2 141 (7.4) 29.5
Mozambique
1 986
 1 290 951 54.0 35.6
Lesotho
274
 213 176 28.6 21.0
Churn (%)3
  
Tanzania
45.3
 43.1 45.5
DRC2
83.0
 50.5 48.0
Mozambique
61.8
 69.0 58.7
Lesotho
19.3
 19.8 17.8    
Total ARPU (rand per month)4
  
Tanzania5
29
 49 48 (40.8) (2.1)
DRC
37
 63 60 (41.3) 5.0
Mozambique
30
 43 31 (30.2) 38.7
Lesotho
67
 70 74 (4.3) (5.4)
Total ARPU (local currency)4
  
Tanzania (TZS)5
5 044
 6 943 8 289 (27.4) (16.2)
DRC (USD)
4.7
 7.2 8.4 (34.7) (14.3)
Mozambique (MZN)
109
 121 111 (9.9) 9.0
Estimated mobile penetration (%)
  
Tanzania
34
 30 20
DRC
13
 16 12
Mozambique
23
 17 16
Lesotho
41
 30 26    
Estimated mobile market share (%)
  
Tanzania
50
 46 52
DRC
38
 37 41
Mozambique
45
 44 40
Lesotho
81
 80 80    
Number of employees
1 634
 1 636 1 540 (0.1) 6.2
Tanzania
678
 689 618 (1.6) 11.5
DRC
651
 672 691 (3.1) (2.7)
Mozambique
205
 188 157 9.0 19.7
Lesotho
96
 83 70 15.7 18.6
Mauritius
4
 4 4 – –
Notes:
1. Customer totals are based on the total number of customers registered on Vodacom's network, which have not been disconnected, including inactive customers, as at the end of the period indicated. Prepaid customers inactive for three months were 19.4% (2009: 22.5%) for Tanzania, 0.0% (2009: 23.7%) for the DRC, 35.9% (2009: 27.2%) for Mozambique and 13.3% (2009: 15.5%) for Lesotho at 31 March 2010. 
2. The DRC changed its disconnection policy from 215 to 90 inactive days. Prior period numbers have not been restated. Normalised DRC customer growth is 5.1% and churn is 71.9% at 31 March 2010. 
3. Churn is calculated by dividing the average monthly number of disconnections during the period by the average monthly total reported customers during the period.
4. Total ARPU is calculated by dividing the average monthly recurring revenue by the average monthly total of reported customers during the period. Total ARPU excludes revenue from equipment sales and non-service revenue. 
5. ARPU numbers have been restated for March 2008. Excise duty is now netted off against revenue in line with Group accounting policies. 
Back to top