VODAFONE IRELAND'S average revenue per user (Arpu) dropped 8.1 per cent in its financial first quarter to €41.70 from €45.40 a year ago.

The drop in revenue was offset by a 2.7 per cent increase in its subscriber base to 2.247 million, cementing its position as Ireland's largest mobile phone operator. Wholly owned subsidiary Perlico, which provides fixed line voice and broadband products, had 70,483 customers at the end of June.

Voice usage on the Irish network hit record levels with total voice minutes used increasing 15.4 per cent to 1,719 million. The number of text messages sent was up 19.2 per cent on an annual basis to 931 million.

Vodafone also claimed to have retained market leadership in mobile broadband with over 84,000 subscribers.

On average Irish customers spoke for 260 minutes and sent 138 messages in the quarter.

The European average was 149 voice minutes and 71 text messages sent.

In contrast parent Vodafone Group posted first-quarter revenue in line with forecasts but said full-year revenue was likely to be around the bottom of its previously stated range due to economic weakness.

Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone company by revenues, said it added 8.5 million subscribers during the quarter, taking the company's proportionate customer base to some 269 million.

Group revenues climbed 19.1 per cent to £9.8 billion, with organic growth - which strips out acquisitions and disposals - of 1.7 per cent.

"Notwithstanding this more challenging operating environment, we continue to benefit from a diversity of assets and services, with strong revenue growth in [emerging countries] and another good quarter of data revenue growth offsetting weakness in Spain," chief executive Arun Sarin said.