It has been a year since Vittorio Colao, then recently installed as chief executive at Vodafone, unveiled £1bn of cost cuts over two years. The former management consultant’s promise on Tuesday to deliver those savings a year ahead of schedule, with an additional £1bn to follow by 2012, reflects the pressures bearing down on Vodafone as the world’s biggest mobile operator by revenues looks for ways to boost returns.

Relentless cost-cutting has long been necessary in rich countries, where just about everyone who wants a mobile phone has one. But now even fast-growing emerging markets are coming under pressure. Consider India, a country of more than 1bn people, just 40 per cent of whom have a mobile phone. Vodafone’s Indian customer numbers swelled more than 50 per cent in the first half. But sales rose by just over a fifth as a price war between the country’s 12 competing operators dragged down average revenues per user. The softer-than-expected performance contributed to a 1.5 per cent dip in Vodafone’s shares on Tuesday. At least Turkey and Spain, two of Vodafone’s toughest markets, showed signs of turning round – or at least bottoming out.