Britain’s Vodafone posted a rise in quarterly sales for the first time in nearly three years on Tuesday in the clearest sign yet that Europe’s mobile market is edging towards recovery. The world’s second largest mobile operator has been hit hard by the constraints on consumer spending in its big European markets and by regulator-imposed price cuts. The full-year results follow updates from the likes of Telefonica and Deutsche Telekom which also showed signs of gradual, if slow, improvement.