Vodafone in good health with ARPU on the up

NEWS Results out today from Vodafone show the UK mobile operator is in good health. Most significantly, Vodafone has increased its ARPU (average revenue per user) – the holy grail for mobile companies and a key indicator of a provider's health – by £5 per year for UK customers. The average annual spend for a UK Vodafone customer has now reached £297, with both prepay and contract users happy to line the company's pockets. Vodafone puts its UK users' big spending down to increased usage as well as changes introduced in prepay tariffs. The company is also keen to praise the fortunes of its games, multimedia and messaging service, Vodafone live!, which was aimed at milking more money from its existing user base. Outgoing CEO Sir Christopher Gent said in a statement: "We are encouraged with the progress of Vodafone live! where today we have more than two million [users] and expect further adoption and usage from the forthcoming wider range of lower priced handsets." The Newbury-based mobile provider has also managed to add an extra 13,000 subscribers. Users in other parts of Europe have been digging deep to keep the mobile giant ticking over too. The average annual spend per Italian consumer is up €4 and stable at €313 in Germany. Japanese users have been less than enthusiastic, however – reducing their annual spending with Vodafone, a fact which the company attributes to the success of their prepay offering in the country. Incoming CEO Arun Sarin, who will take the helm of Vodafone at the end of the month, will doubtless be encouraged by the results. For more on the telco's enigmatic new leader, see silicon.com's exclusive report into what the new appointment means for the mobile industry.