Vodafone’s grand ambition to become a global top five brand, as well as a top quad play operator, still looks far from being achieved – but at least its annual results give the Newbury based company some cause for cheer. Both service revenues and core earnings grew for the first time since 2008, up respectively by 2.3% at £41 billion ($60 billion) and 2.7% at £11.6 billion ($17 billion) for its year ending March 31st 2016, with predictions of acceleration this year. Vodafone claimed this showed that its global fixed network expansion program, which has cost £19 billion ($28.8 billion), is at last paying fruit, although this does not seem to be reflected in direct broadband revenue growth. The gains…