Vodafonewatch, issue 2008.02
21 March 2008
Q3 KPIs again pleased investors, with solid financials underpinned by emerging markets and mobile data, and boosted by favourable foreign exchange movements. However, mature European operations continue to find it tough even to stand still, and were overtaken in customer numbers by EMAPA. A positive outlook was reiterated. [pp.3-23.]
Vodafonewatch
Issue: 2008.02
Covering: 31 January to 19 March 2008
Published: March 2008
Next issue: March/April 2008
Vodafone and its rich web of OpCos — tracked and analysed worldwide. A unique monthly report for the industry.
SUMMARY
Q3 KPIs again pleased investors, with solid financials underpinned by emerging markets and mobile data, and boosted by favourable foreign exchange movements. However, mature European operations continue to find it tough even to stand still, and were overtaken in customer numbers by EMAPA. A positive outlook was reiterated. [pp.3-23.]
Senior executives were lured from Microsoft, Italy’s Barilla, and Malaysia’s DiGi, while marketing departures at Vodafone UK preceded hundreds of local redundancies and new hires, as the OpCo rebalances its management-frontline ratio. Vodafone is looking for a large office space near London as a site in Budapest was selected for the Hungarian Shared Service Centre. [pp.4,24,51,56-57,61.]
The latest round of M&A newsflow reran potential moves in Bangladesh (AKTEL), Germany (Arcor) and Italy (Tiscali). Vodafone Ventures invested in Caringo. Safaricom’s £1.6bn IPO was confirmed for 28 March, with Vodacom planning to list £469m of shares later in the year to meet local BEE requirements. Vodacom is again said to be interested in Nigeria’s M-Tel. SFR continued its EUR2.1bn buyout of Neuf Cegetel, with Neuf also looking to buy Alice France, while Verizon Wireless still faces protests over its $2.7bn RCC buy. [pp.6,7,44,51,68,46.]
Value-added mobile services remain in focus, with Pieter Knook poached from Microsoft to head the new Internet Services unit. Arun Sarin and other executives spoke of both partnering and competing with services players, and exploiting inherent strengths to avoid a ‘bit pipe’ future. Implementations included: mobile Facebook; an industry advertising workgroup in the UK; games deck outsourcing to End2End in New Zealand and Turkey; Podcast and other services in Germany; PC-mobile convergence; mobile TV (multiple OpCos); voice-to-text and social-networking in Spain; and Telmap-based navigation. [pp.24,28,29,31,47,48,49,52,54,55,63,70,76.]
Vodafone procured multiple self-service customer care platforms from SNAPin and VoiceObjects. Alcatel-Lucent is to supply a backhaul solution in Spain, with Acision providing a voicemail system in the UK. [pp.32,52,55,58.]
Two lower-end handsets were added to Vodafone’s own-brand terminals portfolio, which has proved an unexpectedly rapid hit — especially in Africa, India and Southern Europe — and now accounts for 15%-20% of Group device volumes and is even (a distant) second to Nokia in India. Vodafone has ambitions to add its own high-end device within a year. Research In Motion’s success in taking BlackBerry to the masses secured a consumer upgrade in its partnership with Vodafone. gsmExchange has created a handset-trading platform for the Group, enabling OpCos to manage internal stocks more efficiently. Vodafone Germany unveiled a large collection of new handsets at CeBIT. [pp.25-27,30-31,33,48.]
Technology gained much attention, both at Mobile World Congress and in a briefing to investors. Arun Sarin showed himself to be a well briefed industry leader, advising the handset sector to consolidate operating platforms, and outlining a 4G future where WiMAX partners rather than threatens deployment of LTE. Vodafone’s standing was further boosted when China Mobile joined an LTE-exploration partnership that also includes Verizon Wireless and could be powerful enough to lead the industry. Nevertheless, HSPA is considered to have further potential before LTE is actually required, with HSPA+ trials also underway, and is openly credited with powering the mobile broadband boom. The Group is also seen embracing femtocells quickly, with trials in Spain, and at least in part enthused by potential capex and opex savings. Vodafone appears positive on VoIP, but considers it immature, although mobile-PC implementations are going live now. R&D Director Mike Walker is promising to demonstrate how mobiles will in future replace home computers. [pp.34,35,36-39,40-41,47,54,86-85.]
Arun Sarin attacked EC talk of regulating mobile data and messaging retail pricing, as the Group slashed European data-roaming prices, although these are still high by national standards. [pp.41,43.]
WESTERN EUROPE: French incumbents are facing a 3G new entrant, in Free, but are to be allowed to utilise 900MHz spectrum for their own 3G services. SFR has seen strong demand for unmetered mobile broadband. Joining Vodafone OpCos, SFR is partnering TomTom for intelligent navigation services. Neuf Cegetel delivered strong FY07 financials, on the back of its acquisition spree. However, CEO Jacques Veyrat is to leave once SFR takes full ownership. [pp.44,45,46.]
Vodafone Germany is tipped to allocate EUR100m to DSL, presumably to help meet ambitious fixed-line access targets outlined by Arcor. Following reports that it is close to acquiring full control, and attacks from trade unions, Vodafone said Arcor will not disappear “at this time”, although this could just mean the brand. Vodafone Italy introduced a One Vodafone credit card. [pp.47,50,51,52.]
Vodafone is separately to partner both Teleena (a Dutch MVNO-enabler) and Blyk, as the latter extends its advertising-funded MVNO model into the Netherlands. Other MVNOs are under discussion in Portugal (Zon Multimedia) and Spain (Maroc Télécom). Francisco Román attacked shortcoming in Spanish fixed-line regulation, as his company introduces a new FMC service. [pp.30,53,54.]
Vodafone UK finally reached an infrastructure-sharing agreement with Orange, although it seems more passive than originally envisioned. Ofcom is to allow operators to trade spectrum. O2 UK boasted of poaching a sizeable enterprise contact. [pp.57,59.]
EASTERN EUROPE: BlackBerry services were introduced by Vodafone Czech Republic. Gemius said Vodafone Hungary leads the mobile broadband sector, ahead of larger rivals. Political games continue at Polkomtel, with KGHM moving to oust at least one director. Vodafone Turkey’s Attila Vitai complained that market-leader Turkcell is blocking introduction of number-portability. [pp.61,62,63.]
MEAA: Vodafone worked with Afghanistan’s Roshan to introduce mobile payments. Vodafone Egypt introduced its Smart Ads service. [p.64.]
Loose talk by Arun Sarin was again credited with driving potentially expensive action by Indian authorities, which are now looking to tax spectrum transfers. Vodafone’s appeal against a $2bn tax demand was postponed; Sarin was previously credited as the catalyst for this, too. Allocation of 3G spectrum could commence in August. Market leader Bharti Airtel finally took its gloves off, claiming competition with Vodafone will only make it stronger, seemingly supported by a widening gap in net additions. [pp.65,66,67,68,86-87.]
Safaricom completed trials of its Bambanet HSDPA service, but suffered glitches in its new Intelligent Network platform. The M-PAISA mobile payments service topped 1.6 million customers. [pp.69,70.]
Denials followed reports that Vodacom could take control of Lap Green’s Rwandatel and Uganda Telecom operations. Domestically, Vodacom is targeting growth in fixed-line, converged and business segments. Vodacom faced staff upheavals, with two senior executives leaving for CEO positions elsewhere. While taking its regulator to court over interconnection rates, Vodacom Tanzania is also testing NSN’s Village Connection Service. [pp.71,72,73.]
PACIFIC: Renewed talk of an exit from Australia was followed by a firm rebuttal by Arun Sarin and award of an AU $500m HSPA upgrade contract to Ericsson. Vodafone Australia renewed its retail partnership with Crazy John’s and signed sponsorship deals with the Kangaroos and the local F1 Grand Prix. [pp.74,75.]
AIP: Verizon Wireless is to pay $4.7bn for a national US spectrum allocation, which could pave the way for new mobile data and 4G services. It also shook the market by introducing “Unlimited Calling” packages. [pp.77,78-79.]
Uncertainty continues to surround the domestic listing of China Mobile’s shares, restructuring of the local telecoms sector, and the implications for Vodafone as a strategic investor. China Mobile is to invest a further $800m in its Pakistani unit, as it opened a European office and spoke of further international acquisitions and MVNOs. At home, customer growth broke new records in January with another strong year predicted. Contracts for 60,000 3G internal evaluation handsets were awarded. [pp.81,82,83.]
Although Bharti Airtel is running away with subscriber acquisition, it had to defend itself over declining ARPU. Questions were raised over whether Airtel is losing interest in its Sri Lankan venture, even before launch, possibly seeing more attractive opportunities at home. [pp.86,87.]
SOFTBANK MOBILE led Japanese customer acquisition for the tenth month, as the operator: boosted its new parent’s profits; introduced 15 new handsets; and aggressively targets mobile data, corporates and students for future growth. [pp.88,89.]
EXTRACT
Vodafone Technology Day — overview
Vodafone held a Technology Day restricted to investors and analysts on 5 March 2008, to provide a technology-oriented progress report on the company’s strategies for cost reduction, network improvement, and new services for customers. Present were the Group’s technology leaders and other top executives.
While receptive to the announcements being made, analysts were predictably focused on the most near-term of the technological developments, and keen to identify the direct and indirect impact on Vodafone’s current business. This perhaps reflected a mismatch between audience and agenda, suggesting that Vodafone’s Communications team might have made a mistake in excluding industry and technology analysts and media. An example of the mismatch was an occasion where compound mathematics was utilised in a theoretical fashion to show that Vodafone’s current spectrum allocation provides plenty of future capacity, leading an analyst to pointedly ask whether this meant network utilisation was set to fall from 25% to 1% (the answer was ‘no’).
While the Day was heavy with ‘technology’, and probably too much so for its financial audience on whom the ‘blue sky’ thinking might also have been wasted, it was also very focused on Europe, with emerging markets typically mentioned only in passing.
Introducing the event, Arun Sarin, Chief Executive of Vodafone Group, set out the basic aims of the company’s technology unit as delivering high-speed data access, increasing simplicity, and providing new services for customers. He said the Group was very satisfied with the company’s 3.5G HSDPA mobile broadband networks around the world, which are providing the platform to offer new services that customers are demanding.
In terms of these new services, Sarin said the company will have to accept the fact that new players will enter the market, such as Apple and Google, which means more competition. He said that Vodafone intends both to partner and compete with these players to its best advantage.
” While we are well-positioned to offer data ‘connectivity’, we have to position ourselves to offer data ‘services’ too.”
– Sarin.
With regard to regulation, which Sarin said was an intrinsic part of the mobile industry, he emphasised that the market was highly competitive, and indicated that 15% year-on-year reductions in unit prices are continuing.
As well as delivering new services, Sarin was particularly keen to emphasise the cost-reduction benefits of the company’s technological endeavours, claiming savings of £410m (EUR536m) from technology-based initiatives in the period to December 2007, based on targets outlined in May 2006.
Vodafone Group executives present at the briefing included:
- Arun Sarin, Chief Executive.
- Vittorio Colao, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Executive Europe.
- Andy Halford, Chief Financial Officer.
- Steve Pusey, Global Chief Technology Officer.
- Albert Hitchcock, Global Chief Information Officer.
- Andy Macleod, Global Networks Director.
- Detlef Schultz, Global Supply Chain Management Director.
- Mike Walker, Global Research & Development Director.
Cost savings
Continuing the theme of cost savings, Steve Pusey, Vodafone’s Chief Technology Officer, highlighted efforts to reduce capital and operating expenditure, by following measures such as: leveraging the Group’s scale (citing a 50% reduction in prices for 3G radio, as an example); network-sharing agreements in a number of markets; outsourcing initiatives; standardisation; and the use of alternative access technologies (such as femtocells and remote radio heads).
Pusey said the company is ahead of target, in terms of its supply-chain agenda, and has also achieved its data centre-consolidation targets ahead of schedule. He said that, in addition to these high-profile initiatives, a large number of smaller, unannounced programmes have helped the company achieve its goal of “broadly flat” operating expenditure and capital expenditure limited to 10% of revenue, despite the rapid growth in operational footprint (India was highlighted).
Adding detail to Sarin’s announcement of £410m in cost savings, Pusey revealed that these were broadly split between network supply chain (saving £310m) and data centres (£100m).
Mobile VoIP
Pusey said that the company has identified VoIP (voice-over-Internet Protocol, or internet telephony) as a key cost-reduction technology. He said that, by the end of 2008, 80% of European voice traffic will be carried over an IP infrastructure called R4 (utilising packet-switched technology in the core of the network).
However, as far as the wireless interface and the final customer connection is concerned, the VoIP technology is deemed not yet ready. “One day, yes, but today, no”, Pusey said, citing technical issues such as latency, poor quality, and limited interoperability between VoIP clients.
Pusey said that Vodafone is improving the quality of the VoIP uplink, and further developments will come with the evolution of the next major iteration of 3.5G mobile broadband, HSUPA, but he also said that quality is not yet satisfactory for consumer deployment.
Despite these reservations, Pusey said that Vodafone is working on a variety of improvements to VoIP, deeming it to offer “great potential [as a] cost-management solution for the long run”.
Core network evolution
Pusey also set out Vodafone’s aim to bring together all of its operations within “one core, flat, simple IP infrastructure”, as part of what is called the “core network evolution”.
The aim is to achieve a fully IP-based infrastructure to deliver mobile, DSL fixed-broadband, enterprise services, and evolving Total Communications services.
Spectrum holdings
Talking about preparations for next-generation 4G services, Pusey outlined the company’s current European spectrum holdings and said that Vodafone is comfortable that its current spectrum position can support transition towards Long Term Evolution (LTE) services.
Table: Vodafone’s European spectrum holding, March 2008
Table ommitted.
Source: Vodafone.
Femtocells
Andy MacLeod, Vodafone’s Networks Director, said that the Group has successfully completed laboratory trials of 3G femtocell technology and is now conducting field trials with two vendors at Vodafone Spain.
He listed the potential benefits of 3G femtocells, including: bringing dedicated 3G coverage into the home; and off-loading heavy data usage from Vodafone’s wide area network (WAN) in dense urban areas, thus lowering radio area network (RAN) capital expenditure. He also said that deployment of femtocell technology could reduce macro-network investment by up to 20%.
MacLeod further indicated that Vodafone expects commercial 3G femtocell services to be deployed before the end of 2008.
Future vision
Michael Walker, Vodafone’s Global Research and Development Director, also presented at the event, to introduce a number of technological developments that are likely to impact the market in the future.
He spoke at length about the differences between the IT and telecoms markets, in their respective efforts to deliver wireless services — such as varying business models, and different technologies and standards — but predicted that the two sectors would soon collide, and that Vodafone will be a “major force” in bringing them together, primarily through its leadership of LTE 4G technology.
Walker emphasised the increasing use of the mobile Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card for a variety of new services, such as payments, loyalty schemes, transport ticketing, and identity solutions. He highlighted Vodafone trials that are currently underway in Germany, with Deutsche Bahn, to provide ticketing services on trains, but stressed that — different from previous near-field communication (NFC) applications — the new trial is based on an “ecosystem built around Trusted Service Manager”, a standardised interface that can be used for a variety of new services. “In effect, we have re-invented the SIM as a platform to house third-party applications”, he said.
Walker also discussed the application of the GSM system for various traffic-management uses, such as congestion-charging and traffic information services. He highlighted current initiatives with TomTom in the Netherlands (in a Vodafone partnership now expanded across Europe), as well as a number of lorry traffic-charging schemes across Europe.
Looking further into the future, Walker suggested the possibility of mobile terminals replacing home computers altogether; utilising grid computing and mobile communication to shift the storage and processing of traditional computing to a central location, thus leaving the terminal to manage only input and output of information. He even vowed to have proof of the concept available for demonstration within a year.
Analyst reaction
The event was well-attended by analysts from the major investment banks, but questions seemed primarily focused on translating the briefings on technological developments into predictions of the company’s financial performance.
Scepticism was evident regarding some of the potential benefits of the technological developments. For example, one analyst called for executives to justify a claim that technological improvements could increase 3G network-utilisation by over 25-times, though Albert Hitchcock, Vodafone’s Chief Information Officer, seemed keen and able to provide the justification.
Indeed, spectrum allocation and usage appeared to be an issue of particular interest to analysts, both in terms of speed and capacity of the network. Executives reiterated a number of times that they are satisfied with both current allocation and utilisation in Europe.
[Vodafone and Vodafonewatch, 5 March 2008.]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3 Group
3 Q3 FY08 KPIs; People
6 M&A
7 Financial
24 Products and services
25 Suppliers
33 Technology
34 Gaming
41 Regulatory
42 Community
43 Western Europe
43 Albania
44 France
47 Germany
51 Greece
52 Ireland; Italy
53 Netherlands; Malta
54 Portugal; Spain
56 United Kingdom
61 Eastern Europe
61 Czech Republic; Hungary
62 Poland
63 Turkey; Romania
64 MEAA
64 Afghanistan
65 Egypt
66 India — Vodafone Essar
68 Kenya
71 South Africa
72 Congo; Mozambique
73 Tanzania
74 Pacific
74 Australia
76 Fiji; New Zealand
77 AIP
77 USA
81 China
86 India — Bharti Airtel
88 Japan
89 Partner Markets
90 INDEX
INDEX
3
3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), 40
7
724 Solutions Software, Inc., 82
A
Acision, 58
Aditya Birla Group, 67-68, 86-87
Idea Cellular, 67-68, 86-87
Indus Towers, 67, 86-87
Advanced Solutions GmbH, 50
Agcom, Italy, 52
AK Khan & Co., 7
Alatis Gmbh & Co. KG, 50
ALLTEL Corporation, 79
Amalgamated Telecom Holdings (ATH), 22, 76
Telecom Fiji, 76
Vodafone Fiji, 22, 76
Analysys, 40-41
Apple, 26-27, 33, 36, 56, 80-81
iPhone, 26-27, 33, 56, 80-81
ARCHOS, 44
ASPire Group, 81
ASUSTek, 25-26
AT&T, 7, 77-80
Dobson Communications, 79
ATRON electronic GmbH, 50
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, 20
Australian Football League, 74
Australian Grand Prix Corporation, 74
Autorite de Regulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes (ARCEP), 44
Axel Springer AG, 50
Bildmobile, 50
B
Barilla S.p.A. (Barilla G.R. F.lli S.p.A), 51
Bear Stearns, 23
Belgacom, 31
Proximus, 31
Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), 50
Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), 67
Bharti Group, 66-68, 86-88
Bharti Airtel, 66-68, 86-88
Gupta, Akhil, 67
Kohli, Manoj, 86
Nanayakkara, Amali, 87
Bharti Enterprises, 86
Bharti Infotel, 86
Bharti Infratel, 67, 87
Indus Towers, 67, 86-87
Blyk, 53
Bouygues, 44, 46
Bouygues Telecom, 44, 46
BPL Mobile, 68
Loop Telecom, 68
BSkyB, 36
Sky, 36
BT Group, 6
Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd, 83
CIMB Group, 83
Bundesliga, 48
Bundestag (Germany), 49
C
Capital Markets Authority (CMA, Kenya), 69
Capitol Solutions, LLC, 77
Carano Software Solutions GmbH, 50
Caringo, Inc., 6
CeBIT, 47-48, 50
Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), 67
ChangingWorlds, 70
China Mobile, 7, 22, 81-85
Beijing, 81-84
CMPak, 81-82
Ge, Henry, 82
Jiangsu, 82
Wang Jianzhou, 81-83
China Netcom, 81-82
China Telecom, 81-82
China TieTong Telecommunications Corporation, 81
China United Telecommunications (China Unicom), 81-82
Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, 81
CÍGLER SOFTWARE, as, 61
Citigroup, 52
Cleanevent, 74
Coca-Cola, 76
Collins Stewart, 23
Competition Tribunal, SA, 73
Connect In Vodafone, 57
Consip (Italy), 52
Consumer Federation of America, 79
Consumers Union (USA), 79
Cowen and Company, LLC, 80
Crazy John’s, 20, 74
Credit Suisse, 7, 77
CTIA, 80
D
Datang, 83
Debitel, 44
Dell, 61
Department of Telecommunications (DoT, India), 66-68, 72
Deutsche Bahn, 48, 50
Touch&Travel, 48, 50
Deutsche Bank, 50-51
Deutsche Telekom, 6, 29, 45, 62, 77, 79
Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC), 62
T-Mobile International, 6, 29, 62, 77, 79
Hungary, 62
Dexia Group, 45
DIALOGS Software GmbH, 50
Digicel, 76
Dresdner Kleinwort, 23
Dyer & Blair Investment Bank, 68
E
East African Community, 68
Eastman Kodak, 77
eBay, 55
PayPal, 55
eircom, 52
Meteor, 52
Elisa, 89
End2End, 31
Epsom Derby, 60
Ericsson, 26, 34, 40, 48, 53, 74-75
Essar Group, 66-68, 86
BPL Mobile (Mumbai), 68
Essar Telecom, 67
Essar Telecom Tower & Infrastructure, 67
Etisalat, 65, 70
Etisalat Misr, 65
European Union, 41, 43
European Commission, 41, 43
F
Facebook, 24, 28, 89
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 78-79
Fiat, 74
FINCA Afghanistan, 64
Fira de Barcelona, 56
First MicroFinanceBank, 64
First Mobile, 43, 80
Formula One, 74
France Télécom, 6, 29, 44, 53, 57, 62, 65, 70
Orange, 6, 29, 44, 53, 57, 62, 65
France, 44
Mobinil, 65
Poland, 62
UK, 53, 57
G
G-Mobile Holdings Limited, 72
WirelessG, 72
GDBA (Germany), 51
Gemalto NV, 82
Gemius SA, 62
General Council of the Judiciary (Spain), 56
Global Insight, 23
Global Transit Solutions, LLC, 87
Goldman Sachs, 7, 53, 87
Google, 24, 28, 35-36, 78, 87
Android, 28, 35, 78
MySpace, 24
Grupo Bonatel, 56
Grupo Ferrovial SA, 58
BAA Limited, 58
London Heathrow Airport, 58
GSM Association, 24-25, 29-31, 33-35, 41-42, 54-56, 65-66, 70-71, 81, 86, 89
Mobile World Congress, 24, 27-28, 30-31, 33-35, 41-42, 54-56, 65-66, 70-71, 81, 86-87, 89
gsmExchange.com Ltd, 30
Guangzhou New Postcom Equipment Co., Ltd, 83
H
Hargreaves Lansdown, 23
Hay Group, 5
Health Ministry (Fiji), 76
Hisense Electric Co., Ltd., 83
Howler Technologies Ltd, 82
HSBC, 46
HTC, 25-26, 48
Huawei Technologies, 25-26, 34, 40, 82
Hutchison Whampoa, 4, 66, 68
3 Group, 4, 29, 52, 57-58
3 Ireland, 52
3 UK, 57-58
Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd, 4, 66
The Hyperfactory, 76
Snakk Media, 76
I
IBM, 59, 74
IDC, 75
IDG, 79
Ikivo, 48
IlVillage, 55
In-Stat, 81
Indus Towers, 67, 86-87
ING, 74
Institute of Telecommunications Professionals, 4
Integer Solutions GmbH, 50
Investec, 19, 78
Investment Corporation of Dubai, 87
INX Media, 67
ISEC7 GmbH, 50
Italtel, 46
J
Japan Post Network Co., Ltd, 89
JD Power and Associates, 79
Jupiter Investment Management Group Ltd, 29
Jupiter Research, 29
K
KAMMACHI Consulting GmbH, 50
Kavveri Telecom Products Ltd, 89
KDDI, 87-88
KGHM, 62
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, 87
konzeptpark GmbH, 50
L
L’TUR, 48
Learning and Skills Council (UK), 59
Lenovo, 83
LG Electronics, 25, 48, 58, 80, 83
Libya Africa Investments Portfolio for Africa, 71
Lap Green Networks, 71
RwandaTe.l S.A., 71
Uganda Telecom, 71
LiMo Foundation, 35
Loop Telecom, 68
Louis Dreyfus Group, 44, 46
Lux Vide S.p.A., 53
M
MaltaMedia Online Network, 53
MCorpGobal, 68
Spice Communications, 68
Microsoft, 24, 28, 30-34, 49, 59
Windows Live, 30
Messenger, 30
Ministry of Information Industry (China), 82-83
MMetrics, 3, 29
Mobile Games Forum, 34
Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), 52
Mobinil, 65
Mobitelea Ventures, 69
Motorola, 31, 34, 48, 50, 80
MTN, 65, 70
South Africa, 70
N
Nairobi Stock Exchange, 68-69
National Communications Authority (NHH), Hungary, 61
National Development and Reform Commission (China), 82
National People’s Congress (China), 81
Nestle, 54
Network Rail, 59
Neuf Cegetel, 44-46
Allemand, Pierre Alain, 46
AOL France, 44
Club Internet, 44-45
Veyrat, Jacques, 46
NeuStar, 30
Neverfail Ltd, 59
News Corp., 24, 36, 76
Sky, 36
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, 76
YouTube, 24
NHH, 61
Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), 70
Nigerian Mobile Telecommunications Limited (Mtel), 70
NII Holdings, Inc., 77, 80
NEXTEL, 77, 80
Nokia, 24-28, 30-33, 48, 58, 60, 85
Ovi, 31
S60, 24, 27-28, 30, 32-33, 48
Nokia Siemens Networks, 73
North Melbourne Football Club (Kangaroos), 74
NTT, 27, 30, 33, 88
DoCoMo, 27, 30, 33, 88
Numéricable, 46
NXP Semiconductors, 50
O
Ofcom, UK, 57
Oger Telecom, 63
Avea, 63
Olympic Games, 81, 83
2008 Olympic Games (Beijing), 81, 83
Omnifone Ltd, 33
MusicStation, 33
Omniture, Inc., 57
Ontaris, 50
Open Handset Alliance (OHA), 28, 35, 78
Android, 28, 35, 78
Oracle, 62
Siebel Systems, 62
ORCO Property Group, 61
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 76
Orlen, 62
Ovum, 23, 53
P
Pacific Internet (Pacnet), 87
Pacific Spectrum Holdings Limited, 38, 76
PepsiCo, Inc., 76
Perlico, 12
picoChip Designs Ltd, 34
Pioneer, 35
PKN Orlen, 62
PocketGamer.co.uk, 34
Polkomtel, 16, 62
Glapinski, Adam, 62
Kobylecki, Konrad, 62
Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne (PSE), 62
Portugal Telecom, 54
PTC, 62
PTK Centertel Sp. z o.o., 62
PTS, Sweden, 4, 7-13, 15-20
Publicis Group, 54
ZenithOptimedia, 54
Zed Digital, 54
Q
QUALCOMM, 40
Qwest Communications, 80
R
Raiffeisen Bank, 61
Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, 67, 87
Reliance Communications, 67, 87
Research In Motion, 24, 30-31, 33, 48-49, 55, 58-60, 61, 76, 77
BlackBerry, 24, 30-31, 33, 48-49, 55, 58-60, 61, 76
ROK Entertainment Group, Inc., 63
Roshan (Telecom Development Company Afghanistan Ltd), 64-65, 70
M-Paisa, 64-65
RTL Group, 48
Deutschland sucht den Superstar, 48
S
S Tel Ltd (Skycity Foundations/Telecom Investments), 68
Safaricom, 5, 18, 25, 64, 68-71
Bambanet, 69
Joseph, Michael, 69-71
M-PESA, 64, 70-71
SAFRAN Group, 25-26
Sagem Télécommunications, 25-26
Vodafone 226, 26
Samsung, 27, 30, 48, 58, 80, 83
SecureMedia, Inc., 89
Semma, 61
Shanghai Stock Exchange, 81
Shazam Entertainment Ltd, 58
Siemens, 24-26, 28, 30-33, 48, 58, 60, 85
Singapore Telecom, 74-75, 87
Optus (Australia), 74-75
Slice, 83
SNAPin Software, Inc., 32
SOFTBANK CORP, 88-89
SOFTBANK MOBILE, 88-89
Son, Masayoshi, 88-89
Sony, 32
Sony Ericsson, 26, 32, 34, 48
UIQ, 32, 34
Walkman, 48
Spice Communications, 68
SpinVox Ltd, 55
Sprint Nextel, 77, 80
St. Modwen Properties plc, 57
Stifel Financial Corp, 77
Stifel Nicolaus, 77
Strategy Analytics, 57
Swisscom, 52
Fastweb, 52
Sycada Deutschland GmbH, 50
Symbian, 24, 28, 30, 33-34, 48, 55
Symbian OS, 24, 28, 30, 33-34, 48
T
Tata Group, 67, 87
Tata Communications, 87
VSNL, 87
TCRA (Tanzania), 73
TDC, 62
TDC Mobil, 62
Technology
2G, 25, 29, 34, 39, 41-42, 44, 48, 55, 57, 62, 67-68, 70, 72, 74, 79, 87
CDMA, 79
EDGE, 48, 62, 72
GPRS, 72
GSM, 25, 29, 34, 39, 41-42, 44, 48, 55, 67-68, 70, 72, 79, 87
3G, 4-5, 7-11, 15, 20, 25-28, 33-40, 44-45, 47-48, 53, 55, 57, 63, 67, 69, 72, 74-75, 83-85, 89
HSDPA, 4-5, 7-11, 15, 20, 25-28, 34-40, 44-45, 47-48, 53, 55, 57, 67, 69, 72, 75, 83-85, 89
HSPA, 33, 40, 55, 74
HSPA+ (HSPA Evolution), 33, 40, 55, 74
HSUPA, 37
HSxPA, 25
TD-SCDMA, 34, 83-85
UMTS, 40, 44
UMTS-TDD, 34, 38
WCDMA, 34
4G, 33-35, 38-40, 72, 84-85
3GPP Long Term Evolution, 34-35, 38, 40, 84
Long-Term Evolution Frequency Division Duplex (LTE FDD), 84
Long-Term Evolution Time Division Duplex (TD-LTE), 84-85
Long Term Evolution (LTE), 34-35, 38, 40, 84
LTE (TDD), 34
WiMAX, 34-35, 72, 84-85
5G, 25, 33-34, 36-37, 40, 45, 63, 69, 74-75
Billing, 5, 62, 70
CRM, 62
DSL, 4, 6, 8, 37, 40, 44, 46-47, 50-51, 54
Femtocell, 35, 37-38, 40-41
Fibre, 46, 55, 76
Fixed-mobile convergence (FMC), 81
FM, 26, 48
GPS, 48, 55, 60
Grid computing , 39
IM, 30
IMS, 46
IN, 30, 70
IP, 24, 37, 46, 55, 58, 89
IVR, 32, 52, 64
Java, 28
Linux, 24, 28, 30, 33, 35
M2M, 50
mediation, 69
MIMO, 40
MMS, 32, 50, 54-55, 65
MVNO, 30, 53-54, 82
NFC, 39, 50
PDA, 26
Personal computer, 28, 47, 49, 54, 78, 80
PlayReady, 33
Podcast, 47
R&D, 33
RAN, 38, 77, 79
RAN 4 (R4, 3GPP), 37
Release 7 (3GPP), 40
RSS, 47
SIM, 39, 45, 69, 72, 82
SIP, 46
SMS, 28, 47-48, 52-55, 61, 63, 64-65, 73, 82, 86
Spectrum, 25, 36, 38-40, 57, 66-68, 72, 76, 78-79, 84, 87-88
700 MHz, 78
850 MHz, 25
900 MHz, 38, 44
1800 MHz, 38
1900 MHz, 25
2100 MHz, 25, 38
Symbian OS, 24, 28, 30, 33-34, 48, 55
Telemedicine, 51
TV, 24, 47, 63, 76, 89
DVB-H, 47
DVB-T, 47
HDTV, 34
IPTV, 89
ULL, 76
VoIP, 37, 46
W-LAN, 55, 72
WAN, 38
Web 2.0, 77
Web Services, 24, 52, 70
Windows, 24-25, 27-28, 30, 32-34, 48-49
Windows Mobile, 24-25, 27-28, 30, 32-34, 48-49
Tele2, 4, 6
Telecom Egypt, 65
Telecom Italia, 5, 44, 46
Alice, 44, 46
Telecom Italia Mobile, 5
Telecom New Zealand, 75-76
Telecom Pacific Ltd, 76
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, 66-67, 87
Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC, Sri Lanka), 87
Teleena, 30
Telefónica Group, 6-7, 29, 54, 56
Telefónica Moviles, 56
Telefónica O2 Europe, 6, 41, 52, 59
Ireland, 52
UK, 41, 59
Telekom Austria, 89
mobilkom Austria, 89
Telekom Malaysia, 4, 7
TM International Sdn Bhd, 4, 7
TM International (Bangladesh) Limited, 4, 7
AKTEL, 4, 7
Telenor, 4, 61-62
DiGi Telecommunications, 4
Pannon GSM, 61-62
TeliaSonera, 41
Teligen, 76
Telkom South Africa, 70, 72
Tellumat (Pty) Ltd, 72
Telmap, 55, 58, 60
Telstra, 75
Temasek Holdings, 87
Tiffany & Co., 88
Timbaland, 80
Time Warner, 44-45
AOL, 45
Tiscali, 6
TomTom, 39, 44
Toshiba, 48
Transcorp, 70
NITEL, 70
Transnet, 51
Turkcell, 63
U
UBS, 82
Unisys, 74
Unitech Ltd, 68
United Nations, 42
World Food Program, 42
Unwired Fiji Ltd, 76
V
Vector Limited, 76
Verizon Communications, 4, 7, 22, 35, 52, 77-80, 84-85
Seidenberg, Ivan, 80
Strigl, Dennis, 22, 77
Verizon Wireless, 4, 7, 22, 35, 52, 77-80, 84-85
Lanman, Mike, 78
Lewis, Anthony A., 78
Miller, Rob, 77
Rural Cellular Corporation (RCC), 79
V CAST, 77, 80
Vodafone Omnitel, 4, 6, 10, 28, 30, 35, 52, 77
Verkehrsbetrieb Potsdam GmbH, 50
Videocon Industires Ltd, 68
Datacom Solutions Pvt Ltd, 68
Visa, 52
Visto, 31, 56
Vivendi, 7, 22, 30, 44-46, 54, 62
Maroc Télécom, 54
MobiSud, 54
Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC), 62
SFR (Société Française de Radiotéléphone), 30, 44-45
Neuf Cegetel (also see separate entry), 44-46
Tele2 France, 44
Vodacom, 7, 14, 18, 23, 25, 70-73
Bhettay, Nadya, 71
Congo, 70, 72
Davids, Niezaam, 71
Ex-executives, 71
Matlare, Peter, 71
Nyembezi-Heita, Nku, 71
Field, Dot, 72
Gamito, Hermenegildo, 72
Knott-Craig, Alan, 71-73
Lesotho, 18, 70
Mozambique, 70, 72
South Africa, 14, 18, 70-72
Tanzania, 70, 73
Vodacom Business, 72
Vodafone
Corporate, 4, 43, 46, 49, 59, 63, 71-72, 76, 89
ASPire Group, 81
EMAPA, 14-15, 22, 61
Africa, 14, 18, 26, 64-65, 70
Asia, 14, 64, 68
Asia Pacific and Affiliates, 14
Australia, 4, 20, 74-76
Czech Republic, 15, 61
Eastern Europe, 14, 61
Egypt, 14, 17, 31, 65, 70
Fiji, 22, 76
Hungary, 5, 16, 61-62
India, 3-4, 14, 19, 23, 37, 66-68, 71, 73, 86-89
Indus Towers, 67, 86-87
Kenya, 5, 18, 25, 64, 68-71
Middle East, 14, 64-65
Middle East and Africa, 14, 65
Mozambique, 72
New Zealand, 20, 31, 74-76
Pacific, 14, 74, 76
Poland, 16, 62
Romania, 14, 16, 63
South Africa, 7, 14, 18, 23, 25, 43, 70-73
Turkey, 3-4, 14, 17, 23, 31, 63
USA, 4, 7, 22, 35, 52, 77-80, 84-85
Ex-executives
Bamford , Peter, 5
Bassil, Claude, 5
Chambers, Dominic, 5
Smith, Charlie, 5
Executives
Brearley, Matthew, 59
Broumidis, Haris, 43
Buxade, Albert, 56
Clementson, Charlie, 31
Colao, Vittorio, 36
de Laat, Paul, 32
Dowidar, Hatem, 64
Ellerbeck, Thomas, 49
Green, David, 76
Gutsche, Jens, 51
Halford, Andy, 3, 5, 36
Hayes, Darren, 4
Hewitt, Russell, 20, 74
Hitchcock, Albert, 36, 39
Hopkins, Curt, 59
Joussen, Friedrich, 47, 51
Knook, Pieter, 24
Koronias, Giorgios, 51
Kusý, Pavel, 61
Lorentz, Bernhard, 49
Lundal, Morten, 4
MacLeod, Andrew, 36, 38, 40
Moberly, James, 65, 71
Neary, Mervyn, 52
Newland, Angela, 4
Pejša, Martin, 61
Prasad, Shailendra, 76
Pusey, Steve, 36-37, 40, 85
Read, Nick, 56-57
Román, Francisco, 54
Rosenberger, Frank, 49
Rövekamp, Frank, 24
Saggers, Richard, 29
Sarin, Arun, 3, 5, 23-24, 28, 33-37, 41-42, 43, 66-68, 75, 81, 84, 86-87
Schulte-Bockum, Jens, 25-28, 30, 33-34
Schultz, Detlef, 36
Schwertfeger, Carsten, 48
Shalfoon, Kursten, 76
Shepherd, Ian, 29, 58
Sofokleous, Nikos, 51
Speich, Mark, 49
Stanners, Russell, 75-76
Stöber, Harald, 50
Sudera. Suresh, 34
Suh, Peters, 6
Veltroni, Vittorio, 53
Vitai, Attila, 63
Walker, Mike, 36, 39
Whitehill, Kyle, 4, 60
Yates, Tim, 5
Group, 3-7, 15, 19, 24-25, 29, 31, 33-34, 36, 38, 40-42, 43, 47, 49-52, 61-63, 65-71, 75-76, 77, 81, 84-86, 88
Headquarters, 56-57
Vodafone Spot Market Trading Platform, 30
Vodafone Ventures, 6
Marketing, 5, 24-25, 27, 29, 48-49, 51-53, 59-60, 61, 65, 67, 74, 76
Internet Servs., 24, 31, 33-34, 75
Terminals Platform Programme, 27
Vodafone One, 52
Partner Markets, 4, 31, 64-65, 76, 86, 89
Austria (A1), 89
Belgium (Proximus), 31
Caribbean (Digicel), 76
Estonia (Elisa), 89
Finland (Elisa), 89
Iceland (Vadafone Iceland), 31, 89
Sweden (Telenor), 4
Products, 4, 24-26, 29-30, 34, 47, 49, 56, 61, 76, 78, 89
3G Broadband, 26, 40, 48
BlackBerry, 24, 30-31, 48, 55, 59-60, 61, 76
BundesligaPlayer, 48
Business&Life (Italy), 24
Call Me, 65
CallYa, 48
Citi Vodafone One Visa (Italy), 52
Dicta automatico (Spain), 55
E-MailConnect (Germany), 48-49
Easy Walk (Spain), 55
Family, 35, 48, 55, 68, 76
IP-Phone Professional (Germany), 47
Loaded, 61
Lookatme (Spain), 55
M-PESA, 64, 70-71
Messenger PC (Germany), 47
MiniCall (Egypt), 65
Mobile Broadband, 5, 12, 36-37, 42, 53, 55-56, 74-75, 78
Mobile Connect, 5, 7, 63
Mobile Email, 31, 56, 59, 77
Mobile Internet (UK), 24-25, 32-33, 44, 47, 62, 70, 89
Mobile Office, 50
Mobile Plus, 24, 35, 75
MobileTV, 24, 47, 63
MobileTV Player, 47
Navigator, 48, 55
Otello (Germany), 50
Passport, 43
Please Call Me (Egypt), 65
Sat Nav, 55, 58, 60
Smart Ads (Egypt), 65
SMS-Flat All (Germany), 48
Terminals, 5, 7, 48-49, 63
E172 USB Modem Stick, 53
USB Modem Stick, 53
V1520 (ASUSTeK P550), 26
VDA GPS (Toshiba Portege G710), 48
Vodafone 125 (ZTE), 25-26
Vodafone 225 (ZTE), 25-26
Vodafone 226 (Sagem), 26
Vodafone 227, 25, 27
Vodafone 228, 25, 27, 48
Vodafone 527, 48
Vodafone 725, 48
Vodafone 920 (HTC), 25
VPA, 48-49
VPA Touch (HTC), 48
Touch&Travel (Deutsche Bahn), 48, 50
Vodafone Europe, 63
Vodafone In Your Home (Spain), 54
Vodafone Toolbar (Portugal), 47, 54
web phone, 54
Websession (Germany), 47
Strategy, 6, 24
Mobile Plus, 24, 35, 75
Total Communications, 4, 35, 37, 44, 50, 70
Vodafone Foundation, 35, 43, 49, 65
Albania, 43
Germany, 49
Group, 43
Western Europe, 6-7, 19, 25-26, 35, 43
Albania, 11, 43
France, 7, 22, 30, 44-46
Germany, 6, 8, 25, 28, 30, 38-39, 44, 47-51, 55
Germany (Arcor), 6, 8, 50-51
Greece, 12, 28, 38, 51
Ireland, 12, 23, 28, 52, 60
Perlico, 12
Italy, 4, 6, 10, 28, 30, 35, 38, 46, 52-53, 77
Malta, 13, 35, 53
Netherlands, 13, 30, 38-39, 44, 53
Portugal, 13, 28, 30, 38, 47, 54
Spain, 6, 9, 28, 30, 32, 38, 40, 54-56, 58
UK, 4-6, 11, 28-34, 38, 41, 44, 53, 55-60, 71, 82
VoiceObjects, Inc., 52
W
WBS, 72
iBurst, 72
Weather Investments, 65, 70
Orascom Telecom, 65, 70-71
Mobinil, 65
Telecel International, 71
UCOM (Uganda Telecom), 71
Weglokoks, 62
Woolworths, 5
World Economic Forum, 82
Wuppertal Schiffl Mobile GmbH, 50
Y
Yahoo!, 30, 88
Z
Zain Group (MTC/Celtel), 5
Zain, 5
Zon Multimedia (PT Multimedia), 54
ZTE Corporation, 25-26, 33, 83
Vodafone 125, 25-26
Vodafone 225, 25
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