LONDON-A major shift has occurred in the U.K. mobile market, with Vodafone Group plc, the market leader in terms of subscriber numbers for several years, falling two spots to No. 3 following the release of second-quarter subscriber numbers. Orange, owned by France Telecom, claimed the top stop with 11.9 million customers at the end of June.
British Telecommunications plc’s BT Cellnet is the No. 2 carrier with 10.89 million clients, followed by Vodafone with 10.54 million. Deutsche Telekom-owned One 2 One has 9.48 million subscribers, including about 1.01 million Virgin Mobile users.
Vodafone rejected the comparisons, noting its new focus on average revenue per user figures vs. subscriber totals. However, the company’s second-quarter results showed declines in its ARPU figures in key markets as well.
