Vodafone

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Template:Infobox Company,
Template:Nyse, Template:FWB) |

 foundation     = 1983 as Racal Telecom, independent 1991 |
 company_slogan = Make the most of now (in many countries, their previous slogan, How are you?, is still used) |
 location       = Newbury, England |
 key_people     = Ian MacLaurin, Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth, Chairman (till July 2006)
Paul Hazen, Deputy Chairman
Arun Sarin, Chief Executive
Sir Julian Horn-Smith, Deputy Chief Executive (retiring July 2006)
Frank Rovekamp, Chief Marketing Officer
Peter Bamford, Chief Marketing Officer (till April 2006)
Thomas Geitner, CEO New Businesses & Innovation
Sir Chris Gent, former chairman
Bill Morrow, CEO Europe
Paul Donovan, CEO Central Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Affiliates| industry = Mobile telecommunications | products = Vodafone live!, Vodafone Mobile Connect, Vodafone WLAN, Vodafone live! with 3G, Vodafone Simply, Vodafone Passport etc| homepage = www.vodafone.com

}} Vodafone Group plc (Template:Lse, Template:Nyse, Template:FWB) is a British mobile phone operator headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire, England, is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover, with equity interests in 26 countries and Partner Networks (networks in which it has no equity stake) in a further 33 countries. Its name stands for VOice DAta FONE (phone).

31 December 2005 Vodafone had 179.3 million proportionate customers in 26 markets across 5 continents. [1] ("Proportionate customers" means, for example, that if Vodafone has a 30% stake in a business with a million customers, that is counted as 300,000). On this measure it is the second-largest mobile telecom group in the world behind China Mobile. The six markets where it has more than ten million proportionate customers are the United Kingdom; Germany, the United States, Italy, Japan, and Spain. In the U.S., these customers come via its minority stake in Verizon Wireless, and in the other five markets Vodafone has majority-controlled subsidiaries.

Vodafone's portfolio of global services, supported by its global brand, is available in a total of 59 countries.

Contents

Vodafone in Europe

Vodafone currently operates in the following countries in Europe. The proportionate customer numbers are for 31 December 2005:




<td colspan="8" align="center"> * A local company with more than 50% being owned by the parent company is considered a subsidiary; Ownership of less than 50% makes the local company an affiliate. Local companies without ownership at all are partners.
CountryNetwork Name (former)OwnershipProportionate Number of CustomersStatusMarket ShareOfficial WebsiteLocal Competitor(s)
AlbaniaVodafone99.9%748,000Subsidiary49%www.vodafone.alAMC
AustriaA10%--Partner39.1%www.a1.netT-Mobile, One, Telering, 3
BelgiumProximus25.0%1,077,000 (30 June 2005)Affiliate48.7%www.proximus.beBase, Mobistar
BulgariaMobiltel0%3,600,000Partner57.6%www.mtel.bg

GloBul,VivaTel

CroatiaVIPnet0%--Partner44.1%www.vipnet.hrT-Mobile, Tele2
CyprusCytamobile-Vodafone0%--Partner89.3%www.cytamobile-vodafone.comAreeba
Czech RepublicVodafone Czech Republic99.9%2,140,000Subsidiary18%www.vodafone.czEurotel, T-Mobile
DenmarkTDC Mobil0%--Partner41.4%www.tdcmobil.dkSonofon, Telia, 3
EstoniaElisa Oyj (Radiolinja)0%--Partner www.elisa.eeTele2, EMT
FinlandElisa Oyj (Radiolinja)0%--Partner30% (2003)www.elisa.fiSonera, Finnet
FranceSFR43.9%7,101,000 (30 June 2005)Affiliate36%www.sfr.frOrange, Bouygues Télécom
GermanyVodafone (D2)100%29,165,000Subsidiary37%www.vodafone.deT-Mobile, E-Plus, O2
GreeceVodafone (Panafon)99.8%4,429,000Subsidiary35.7%www.vodafone.grCosmote, TIM Hellas, Q-telecom
HungaryVodafone100%2,038,000Subsidiary21.99%www.vodafone.huT-Mobile, Pannon GSM
IcelandOg Vodafone0%--Partner32% (2003)www.ogvodafone.isSíminn, Viking Wireless
IrelandVodafone (Eircell)100%2,047,000Subsidiary54%www.vodafone.ieO2, Meteor, 3
ItalyVodafone (Omnitel)76.9%23,000,000Subsidiary35%www.vodafone.itTIM, Wind, 3
LatviaBite Latvija0%--Partner www.bite.lvLMT GSM,Tele2
LithuaniaBite Lietuva0%--Partner www.bite.ltTele2, Omnitel
LuxembourgLUXGSM0%--Partner64% (2003)www.luxgsm.luTango (Tele2), VOXmobile
MaltaVodafone (Telecell)100%177,000Subsidiary55% (2003)www.vodafone.com.mtGo Mobile
NetherlandsVodafone (Libertel)99.9%3,976,000Subsidiary23%www.vodafone.nlKPN, T-Mobile, Orange
PolandPlus GSM19.6%1,774,000Affiliate33%www.plusgsm.plOrange Polska, Netia Mobile, Era
PortugalVodafone (Telecel)100%4,119,000Subsidiary34.3%www.vodafone.ptTMN, Optimus
RomaniaConnex-Vodafone99.1%6,132,000Subsidiary46%www.vodafone.roOrange, Cosmote Romania, Zapp Mobile
SloveniaSi.mobil-Vodafone0%--Partner22.7%www.simobil.siMobitel, Vega
SpainVodafone (Airtel)100%12,923,000Subsidiary29%www.vodafone.es movistar, Amena
SwedenTelenor (Vodafone; Europolitan)0%--Partner16% (2003)www.telenor.seTelia, Tele2, 3, Spring Mobil
SwitzerlandSwisscom25.0%1,008,000 (30 June 2005)Affiliate62%www.swisscom-mobile.chOrange, TDC, Tele2
TurkeyTelsim100%10.3 millionIn the process of being taken over25.0%www.telsim.com.trTurkcell, Avea
United KingdomVodafone100%16,325,000Subsidiary24%www.vodafone.co.ukO2, Orange, T-Mobile, 3, Virgin Mobile

History

  • 1985-01-01: First phone call on Vodafone United Kingdom's analogue network. This event is staged, due to a network failure; the first calls actually being made the next day. The first call is made to the Vodafone head office—which was at that point above a curry house in Newbury, where the company remains today (but now in a custom-built HQ building).
  • October 1991: Racal Telecom is demerged from Racal Electronics and becomes Vodafone Group.
  • June 1992: Vodafone Germany's (still as "Mannesmann Mobilfunk GmbH") network goes live.
  • July 1992: Vodafone United Kingdom's GSM network goes live.
  • September 1992: Vodafone Sweden's network goes live under the name of Europolitan who late changed name to Europolitan-Vodafone.
  • October 1992: Vodafone Portugal's (still as "Telecel, Comunicações Pessoais, SA") network goes live.
  • July 1993: Vodafone Greece's network (still as "Panafon Hellenic Telecommunications") goes live.
  • July 1993: Vodafone Ireland's GSM network goes live, as Eircell; a ETACS network had operated from ~1985.
  • September 1995: Vodafone Italy's (still as "Omnitel") network goes live.
  • November 1995: Vodafone Spain's (still as "Airtel") network goes live.
  • 1998: Company introduces new logo, known as the Speechmark, as it is a quotation mark in a circle; the O's in the Vodafone logotype are opening and closing quotation marks, suggesting conversation. The logo often appears on the outline of a SIM card.
  • 30 June 1999: Vodafone Group Plc purchases AirTouch Communications, Inc. of the U.S., and changes its name to Vodafone Airtouch Plc. As Airtouch owns about 30 percent of the German Mannesmann group, Vodafone is required to shed its 17 percent holding in Germany's third-largest mobile provider, E-Plus.
  • 21 September 1999: Vodafone Airtouch announces a $70-billion joint venture with Bell Atlantic Corp. to be called Verizon Wireless, which was composed of the two companies' U.S. wireless assets and began operations on 4 April 2000.
  • February - April 2000: After a months-long battle, Vodafone buys German conglomerate Mannesmann AG to get control over the mobile network operator Mannesmann Mobilfunk GmbH & Co KG, operating the "D2" network. The deal is one of the largest in European history and is Germany's first hostile takeover by a foreign firm. The conglomerate is subsequently broken up and all manufacturing related operations sold off.
  • 28 July 2000: Reverts to its former name, Vodafone Group Plc.
  • 2001-04-16 First 3G voice call on Vodafone United Kingdom's 3G network.
  • 2001: Vodafone takes over Eircell, then part of eircom in Ireland, and rebrands it Vodafone Ireland.
  • 2001-2002: Vodafone acquires Japan's third-largest mobile operator J-Phone, which had introduced camera phones first in Japan.
  • 17 December 2001: Vodafone intoduces the concept of "Partner Networks" by signing TDC Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involves the introduction of Vodafone international services to the local market, without the need of investment by Vodafone. The concept would be used to extend the Vodafone brand and services into markets where it does not have stakes in local operators. Vodafone services would be marketed under the dual-brand scheme, where the Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local brand. (i.e., TDC Mobil-Vodafone; Elisa-Vodafone; Bité-Vodafone etc.)
  • 2 February 2002: Finland is added into Vodafone's mobile community, as Radiolinja is signed as a Partner Network. Radiolinja later changed its named to Elisa.
  • 2002: Vodafone rebrands Japan's J-sky mobile internet service as Vodafone live!™ as its mobile customer portal
  • 3 December 2002: Vodafone brand is introduced in the Estonian market with signing of a Partner Network Agreement with Radiolinja (Eesti). Radiolinja (Eesti) would later change its name to Elisa.
  • 7 January 2003: Vodafone signed a group-wide Partner agreement with mobilkom austria. As a result, Vodafone adds Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia in its partner network.
  • 16 April 2003: Og Vodafone is introduced in the Icelandic market. The company is the result of the partnering of Og with Vodafone.
  • 13 May 2003: in Italy Omnitel, already Vodafone-Omnitel, is rebranded Vodafone Italy.
  • 21 July 2003: Lithuania is added to Vodafone's worldwide network, with the signing of a Partner Network agreement with Bité.
  • 16 February 2004: Vodafone signs a Partner Network Agreement with Luxembourg's LuxGSM.
  • 20 February 2004: Vodafone signs a Partner Network Agreement with Cyta of Cyprus. Cyta agreed to rename its mobile phone operations to Cytamobile-Vodafone.
  • November 2004: Vodafone introduces 3G services into Europe.
  • June 2005: Vodafone increases its participation in Romania's Connex to 99%. Vodafone also buys Czech mobile operator Oskar.
  • 1 July 2005: Oskar of Czech Republic is rebranded as Oskar-Vodafone.

Image:VodafoneLogo.gif

  • 17 October 2005: Vodafone Portugal launches a revised logo, dropping the quotation marks in the O's of the company name (these reflect English usage, and are not always understood as representing speech in other languages), and using the colour silver instead of white, but still retaining the red background. Also, various operating companies start to drop the use of the SIM card pattern in the company logo. (The rebranding of Oskar-Vodafone and Connex-Vodafone also does not use the Sim Card pattern.)
  • 28 October 2005: Connex in Romania is rebranded as Connex-Vodafone
  • 31 October 2005: Vodafone reaches an agreement to sell Vodafone Sweden to Telenor, the largest provider of telecommunications services in Norway, for approximately 1 billion. The sale will be completed by the end of calendar year 2005. After the sale, Vodafone Sweden becomes a Partner Network.
  • 13 December 2005: Vodafone wins an auction to buy Turkey's second-largest mobile phone company, Telsim, for $4.5 billion. [2]
  • December 2005: Vodafone Spain becomes the second member of the group to adopt the revised logo.
  • 05 January 2006: The group announces the completion of the sale of Vodafone Sweden to Telenor.
  • 01 February 2006: Oskar Vodafone drops the Oskar name and becomes Vodafone Czech Republic, adopting the revised logo. Vodafone Hungary also adopts this logo.
  • 01 February 2006: after seven years Vodafone Italy changed the testimonial of its advertisings: Megan Gale. Italian customers were particulary affectionated to Megan Gale, so it was very hard for the company to adopt new testimonials for advertising campaigns. Three models have been chosen and Vodafone Italy's claim was changed from "All around you" into "Life is NOW".
  • 22 February 2006: Vodafone announces that it is extending its footprint to Bulgaria with the signing of Partner Network Agreement with Mobiltel, whih is part of mobilkom austria group.
  • 12 March 2006: Former chief, Sir Christopher Gent, who was appointed the honourary post Chairman for Life in 2003, quits following rumours of boardroom rifts.
  • 1 April 2006: Vodafone Germany also switches over to the new logo.
  • 4 April 2006: Vodafone Sweden announces that it will change name to Telenor Sverige AB following the Telenor takeover of the Swedish Vodafone-network.
  • 8 April 2006: Vodafone Netherlands adopts the new logo.
  • 11 April 2006: Vodafone announces that it has signed an extension to its Partner Network Agreement with BITE Group, enabling its Latvian subsidiary "BITE Latvija" to become the latest member of Vodafone's global partner community.
  • 20 April 2006: Vodafone Sweden rebrands to Telenor and drops the Vodafone branding.

Vodafone in Asia-Pacific

Vodafone currently operates in the following countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The proportionate customer numbers are at 31 December 2005:

<td colspan="8" align="center"> * Local company with more than 50% being owned by the parent company is considered a Subsidiary; Ownership of less than 50% makes the local company an Affiliate. Local companies without ownership at all are Partners.
CountryNetwork Name (former)OwnershipProportionate Number of CustomersMarket ShareOfficial WebsiteLocal Competitor/s
AustraliaVodafone100%3,126,00018%www.vodafone.com.auTelstra, Optus
ChinaChina Mobile3.3%8,250,000 (30 June 2005)65%www.chinamobile.comChina Unicom
FijiVodafone49%95,000100%www.vodafone.com.fj
IndonesiaXL0%-- www.xl.co.id
JapanVodafone K.K. (J-Phone)97.7%15,146,50017%www.vodafone.jpDoCoMo, KDDI
Hong KongSmarTone-Vodafone0%-- www.smartone-vodafone.com.hk3, Peoples, CSL, New World, PCCW
IndiaAirTel10%1,633,00022%http://www.airtelworld.com
MalaysiaCelcom0%-- www.celcom.com.myMaxis Communications, Digi.com
New ZealandVodafone (BellSouth)100%2,024,00054.8%www.vodafone.co.nzTelecom
SingaporeM10%--35%www.m1.com.sgSingTel, Starhub
Sri LankaDialog0%-- www.dialog.lk

History

Vodafone in the Middle East and Africa

Vodafone currently operates in the following countries in the Middle East and Africa region. The proporationate customer numbers are as at 31 December 2005.

<td colspan="8" align="center"> * Stakes in local Vodacom operating companies in Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique and Tanzania are held thorugh the stake in Vodacom South Africa. As the companies in the DRC, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Tanzania are only subsidiaries of an affiliate (Vodacom), Vodafone Group does not have direct formal relationships with them.
CountryNetwork Name (former)OwnershipProportionate Number of CustomersMarket ShareStatusOfficial Website
BahrainMTC-Vodafone----30%Partnerwww.mtc-vodafone.com.bh
Democratic Republic of CongoVodacom25.5%* *www.vodacom.cd
EgyptVodafone (ClickGSM)67%3,068,00047%Subsidiarywww.vodafone.com.eg
KenyaSafaricom35%1,221,00065%Affiliatewww.safaricom.co.ke
KuwaitMTC-Vodafone---- Partnerwww.mtc-vodafone.com
LesothoVodacom44.15%* *www.vodacom.co.ls
MozambiqueVodacom49%* *www.vm.co.mz
South AfricaVodacom50%7,043,00060%Subsidiarywww.vodacom.co.za
TanzaniaVodacom32.5%* 54.1%*www.vodacom.co.tz


History

  • May 1998: Vodafone Egypt network went live under the name ClickGSM.
  • 18 September 2002: Vodafone signs a Partner Network Agreement with MTC group of Kuwait. The agrrement involved the rebranding of MTC to MTC-Vodafone.
  • 29 December 2003: Vodafone signs another Partner Network Agreement with Kuwait's MTC group. The second agreement involves the co-operation in Bahrain and the branding of the network as MTC-Vodafone.
  • 3 November 2004: Vodafone announced that its South African affiliate Vodacom has agreed to introduce Vodafone's international services, such as Vodafone live! and partner agreements, to its local market.
  • 3 November 2005: Vodafone announces that it is in exclusive talks to buy the 15% stake of VenFin in Vodacom Group, reaching agreement the following day. Vodafone announces it plans to purchase a controlling interest in VenFin, and then shed VenFin's other assets. Vodafone and Telkom will then have a 50% stake each in Vodacom.
  • 03 April 2006: Vodafone Egpyt adopts the group's new logo.

Vodafone in the Americas

Vodafone currently operates in the following countries in the Americas region.

<td colspan="8" align="center"> * Local company with more than 50% being owned by the parent company is considered a Subsidiary; Ownership of less than 50% makes the local company an Affiliate. Local companies without ownership at all are Partners.
CountryNetwork Name (former)OwnershipProportionate Number of CustomersMarket ShareOfficial WebsiteLocal Competitor/s
ArgentinaCTI Móvil0%-- www.cti.com.arPersonal, movistar
BrazilClaro0%--21.75%www.claro.com.brVivo, TIM, Oi
ChileSmartcom0%--16.7%www.smartcom.clmovistar, Entel PCS
ColombiaComcel0%--63.6%www.comcel.commovistar
EcuadorPorta0%--65.4%www.porta.netmovistar, Alegro PCS
El SalvadorCTE Personal0%-- www.telecom.com.svmovistar, Tigo, Digicel
GuatemalaPCS Digital0%-- www.pcsdigital.com.gtmovistar, Tigo
HondurasPCS Honduras0%-- www.alo.hn
MexicoTelcel0%-- www.telcel.com movistar, Iusacell, Unefon
NicaraguaEnitel0%-- www.enitel.com.ni
ParaguayCTI Móvil0%-- www.cti.com.py
PeruClaro0%-- www.claro.com.pe movistar
United StatesVerizon Wireless44.4%22,785,000 www.verizonwireless.com Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile
UruguayCTI Móvil0%-- www.cti.com.uy

History

United States In the United States, Vodafone owns 44.4%1 of Verizon Wireless, the country's second largest mobile carrier. Before this joint venture was formed, Vodafone merged with AirTouch Communications of the U.S. in June 1999 and changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch Plc. In September 1999, Vodafone Airtouch announced a $70-billion joint venture with Bell Atlantic Corp. The first wireless business with a national footprint in the U.S., Verizon Wireless was composed of Bell Atlantic's and Vodafone AirTouch's U.S. wireless assets and began operations on April 4 2000. However, Verizon Communications—the company formed when Bell Atlantic and GTE merged on June 30 2000—owns a majority of Verizon Wireless and Vodafone's branding is not used, nor is the network compatible with GSM phones. This relationship has been quite profitable for Vodafone, but there have historically been three problems with it. The first is the above-mentioned incompatibility with the GSM standard used by Vodafone's other networks, and the consequent difficulty of offering roaming between Vodafone's U.S. and other networks. The other two stem from the fact that Vodafone has does not have management control over Verizon Wireless. Vodafone is thus unable to use the Vodafone brand for its U.S. operations, and (perhaps more importantly) has no control of dividend policy at Verizon Wireless and is therefore entirely at the mercy of Verizon management with respect to cash flow from Verizon Wireless to Vodafone.

Perhaps as a consequence of these reasons, Vodafone made a bid for the entirety of AT&T Wireless when that company was for sale in 2004. Had this bid been successful, Vodafone would presumably have sold its stake in Verizon Wireless, and then rebranded the resultant business as Vodafone. As AT&T Wireless used the GSM standard, this would have resolved all the above problems. However, Cingular Wireless (a joint venture of SBC Communications (now AT&T) and BellSouth) ultimately outbid Vodafone and took control of AT&T Wireless, and Vodafone's relationship with Verizon has continued.

Latin America On 15 November 2005, Vodafone Group announced a group-wide co-operation agreement with America Movil of Mexico. The agreement involves co-operation on international services and roaming. The services include Voice and GPRS Roaming services, Preferred Roaming and Virtual Home Environment. Included in the agreement are the 13 networks owned and controlled by America Movil (except Tracfone in the United States), and the various operating companies of Vodafone and its Partner Networks.

Although the announcement only says that the two groups are partnering to deliver international roaming services, subsequent press releases of the Vodafone Group indicates that it has 27 (now 31) Partner Networks, therefore the 13 networks of America Movil in the agreement are considered Partner Networks.


1 Vodafone Group Plc. Key Performance Indicator press release for the quarter to 30 June 2005, 25 July 2005.

Financial results

From its 31 March 2006 year end onwards Vodafone will report its results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). It has issued results amended to IFRS standards for its 31 March 2004 and 31 March 2005 year ends for information purposes, and these are shown in the first table below.

Vodafone has some large minority stakes, in particular in Verizon Wireless in the United States and SFR in France, which are not included in its consolidated turnover. In order to provide additional information on the overall scale and growth trends of its business it publishes "proportionate turnover" figures and these are included in the tables below. For example, if a business in which it owns a 45% stake has turnover of £10 billion, that equals £4.5 billion of proportionate turnover for Vodafone. Proportionate turnover is not an official accounting measure and Vodafone's proportionate turnover should be compared with other companies' statutory turnover.

Vodafone also produces proportionate customer number figures on a similar basis, eg. if an operator in which it has a 30% stake has 10 million customers that equals 3 million proportionate Vodafone customers. This is a common practice in the mobile telecommunciations industry.

Year ended 31 MarchTurnover £mProfit before tax £mProfit for the year £mBasic eps (pence)Proportionate customers (m)Proportionate turnover £m
200534,0737,9516,5189.68154.843,602
200432,4929,0136,1128.70133.439,446

The following table shows Vodafone's results under UK generally accepted accounting principles (UK GAAP). By the end of its key acquisition drive, which ran from 1999 to 2002, Vodafone had more than £100 billion of goodwill on its balance sheet. As UK GAAP requires goodwill to be written off against the profit and loss account Vodafone has shown large statutory losses since then. However this write off of goodwill is purely an accounting adjustment and does not affect Vodafone's cash position or its ability to pay dividends. Despite the reported losses it is in reality a highly profitable company, and this is reflected in the fact that it has often been ranked among the top twenty companies in the world by market capitalisation. Vodafone's accounts for the years shown in the table below include a great number of one off transactions, and apart from noting the rapid expansion of the group, no conclusions about underlying trends should be drawn from the figures without examining the accounts in more detail.

Year ended 31 MarchTurnover £mProfit/(loss) before tax £mProfit/(loss) for the year £mBasic eps (pence)Amortisation of goodwill £mProportionate customers (m)Proportionate turnover £m +
200534,133(4,702)(7,540)(11.39)14,700154.843,602
200433,559(5,047)(9,015)(13.24)15,207133.439,446
200330,375(6,208)(9,819)(14.41)14,056119.733,926
200222,845(13,539)(16,155)(23.77)13,470101.129,799
200115,004(8,095)(9,763)(16.09)9,58583.022,230
20007,8731,3494871.801,71239.112,569
19993,3609356374.12825.49,185

1 Vodafone Group Plc. Key Performance Indicator press release for the quarter to 30 June 2005, 25 July 2005.

Corporate sponsorship

References

External links

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