London [UK], July 24 (ANI): Telecommunications firm Airtel Africa's total customer base grew by 9.0 per cent to 169.4 million, with data customers increasing 17.4 per cent to 75.6 million, it said in a statement on Thursday.

This, alongside a 4.3 per cent increase in smartphone penetration to 45.9 per cent, contributed to accelerating demand for data services with data ARPU growth accelerating to 18.5 per cent in constant currency as data usage across our network increased by 47.4 per cent.

The telecom company said Airtel Money continues to play a pivotal role in fostering financial inclusion with a 16.1 per cent increase in customers to 45.8 million.

As use cases continue to expand, customers are increasingly engaging with a wide range of offerings.

It supported a 35 per cent increase in annualised transaction value to USD 162 billion, and ARPU growth of 11.3 per cent in constant currency.

'Our strategic focus on great customer experience is underpinned by sustained network investment with the rollout of over 2,300 new sites to reach 37,579 sites and an expansion of our fibre network by 2,700 kms to over 79,600 kms,' Airtel Africa said in their statement.

'This investment continues to drive increased data capacity across the region with 4G population coverage reaching 74.7 per cent - an increase of 3.4 per cent from a year ago,' it added.

Revenues of USD 1,415 million saw strong growth of 24.9 per cent in constant currency.

Across the Group, mobile services revenue grew by 23.8 per cent in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 13.9 per cent and data revenue growth of 38.1 per cent. Mobile money revenues continued to see a strong growth trajectory, with 30.3 per cent growth in constant currency.

'The strength of this performance, and the scale of the growth we achieved, reflects the sustained demand for our services and the strength of our business model to meet these demands,' Sunil Taldar, chief executive officer, said in the statement.

'Our strategy continues to prioritise the customer experience, as demonstrated by the launch of Airtel Spam Alert--an AI-powered solution aimed at enhancing trust and delivering a safer network environment. This underscores our commitment to leveraging technology to lower barriers to smartphone adoption. With smartphone penetration at only 45.9 per cent, we see significant headroom to drive further adoption and play a key role in bridging the digital divide,' Sunil Taldar added. (ANI)