Vodafone New Zealand has released final quarterly results for the year ending 31 March 2007, showing an additional 176,000 net connections in the past 12 months, increasing the market share from 52.5 to 53.7 per cent. In the quarter alone 44,000 new customers contracted services from the operator.

Total customer numbers for Vodafone New Zealand now reaches 2.244,000 users. The Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is NZ$49.30, with On Account customers bringing in NZ$122.80 and Prepay customers contributing NZ$23.40 a month each.

Vodafone customers also talked through almost 100 million more minutes than in the previous three months, with a total of 771 million minutes.

Vodafone Chief Executive Russell Stanners said this has been a pleasing quarter for Vodafone and a solid full-year result. “One of the clear stand outs was our purchase of ihug in October. Ihug’s strength in fixed line broadband and calling, together with our mobile offering, means we are now able to offer total solutions – landline and mobile – to our customers."

Mr Stanners says another major highlight was the launch of 3G broadband in September: “3G mobile broadband takes mobility to the next level, allowing our customers high speed online access wherever they may be. We’re now continuing our investment, rolling out 3G mobile broadband to regional centres.”