Vodafone India added 3.3 million 3G Internet connections for the quarter ended September 30, 2014, same as previous quarter, which is incidentally the highest ever 3G adoption witnessed by the telco. Vodafone now has a total base of 13.6 million 3G connections for the quarter, as compared to 10.3 million 3G connections in the previous quarter and 4.5 million 3G connections in the same quarter last year. In comparison, Vodafone India's competitor Airtel had added 2.96 million 3G connections during the quarter for a total base of 15.5 million 3G connections, while Idea Cellular had added 2.7 million 3G connections for a total base of 13.3 million 3G connections. 3G ICR agreement driving the growth? Note that these three telcos have an intra-circle 3G roaming agreement, enabling them to offer 3G services in circles where they do not have 3G spectrum. As part of the agreement, Vodafone had resumed 3G services in 11 circles. It seems like this agreement has contributed significantly to the growth of Vodafone's 3G subscription base for the quarter. This is evident from the fact that Vodafone's total mobile Internet connection base remained nearly flat at 57.2 million for the quarter, from 57 million mobile Internet connections in the previous quarter. Probably Vodafone's 2G customers in these regions transitioned to become 3G customers during the quarter. Incidental mobile internet users? What's also worth noting is that Vodafone's total mobile Internet connection base seems to include incidental mobile Internet users (users who have consumed less than 1 MB/month), while its competitors Idea Cellular, Airtel and Reliance Communications have all started culling incidental mobile Internet users from its total base from…
