Vodafone’s group revenue from ‘internet of things’ (IoT) services stood at €747 million for the 12 months to March 31, up 7.2 per cent from €697 million the previous year.
The increase was down to higher IoT SIM connections in the period, up 31.2 per cent year-on year. The British telecoms group, which serves eight of the top 10 car-makers globally, has 68 million active SIMs on its IoT platform, including 14.4 million vehicles.
Its margin of growth for IoT sales outran the 2.2 per cent reverse it claimed for overall service revenues in the period, which finished down at €46.571 billion. Operating profit for the year was up 15.4 per cent, however, to €4.3 billion.
Growth in IoT sales also outstripped its 5.6 per cent decline in enterprise service revenues, which finished at €12.018 billion. Both total sales and enterprise sales climbed marginally in organic terms, by 3.8 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively.
At the same time, IoT sales still represent a fraction of its total business, at just 1.6 per cent of total group revenues and 6.6 per cent of enterprise sales.
Vodafone posted IoT revenues of €203 million in the fourth quarter, a rise of 10.3 per cent from €184 million in the same period a year ago, and €187 million in the third quarter, an increase of 10 per cent from €170 million.
The group’s enterprise portfolio, which now embraces IoT, cloud and hosting and IP-VPN provision, besides traditional mobile telephony, contributed 29 per cent of its total business, it said.
In the consumer space, Vodafone noted particularly the launch of its ‘V by Vodafone’ IoT subscription offer, which includes a dedicated IoT SIM that connects to any-branded consumer IoT products, and its adjusted brand position (‘The future is exciting. Ready?’), which, it claimed, makes play of the role new digital services will play in transforming society.
Outgoing Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao, to be replaced by Vodafone veteran Nick Read on October 1, commented: “Our primary focus continues to be to accelerate the ‘Digital Vodafone’ programme, which we believe is a unique opportunity to enhance our customers’ experience, generate incremental value and improve cost efficiency.”
Read was appointed as the group’s chief financial officer in 2014. He has previously served as the group’s chief executive for the Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific and in a number of senior management roles, including as chief executive, at its UK business.
Vodafone said last week it had struck a deal to purchase Liberty Global’s operations in Germany and Eastern Europe for €18.4 billion. If the transaction gains approval, it will make Vodafone the largest operator in Europe by turnover and market capitalization, leapfrogging Germany’s Deutsche Telekom.
US carrier Verizon saw its revenues from IoT services climb 13 per cent in the first quarter of 2018, compared with a year ago, almost double the rate of growth across all of its operations. In total, the company reported consolidated growth of 6.6 percent for the three months to March 31, finishing at $31.8 billion.
