Vodafone sets out cost-cutting plans
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Vodafone says it expects to cut costs by 2.5 billion pounds per year by March 2008, and has reiterated its guidance for this financial year.
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Vodafone Group Plc plans to hand 6.0  billion pounds ($11.12 billion) back to shareholders this year  after doubling half-year and full-year dividends and boosting a  multi-billion pound share buy-back program.
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(InfoWorld) - Vodafone Group had almost 200 million customers by Dec. 31, but continues to face challenges in the competitive and saturated European market. The operator's European business stagnated, with fourth-quarter revenue growing just 0.9 percent year on year, excluding the effect of acquisitions. Worldwide, its growth excluding acquisitions totalled 6.1 percent. The company accounts for revenue from partly-owned subsidiaries in proportion to its holding. Vodafone said that despite low growth in Europe, some of its new calling plans, such as one that offers users a lower price for calls made within their home area and others that include fixed-line broadband Internet access, are attracting new customers. Price competition, however, is offsetting that growth. Revenue from Vodafone's operations outside Europe, excluding acquisitions, grew 14.4 percent compared to a year earlier. Egypt, Romania, South Africa, and Turkey showed particularly strong growth during the period, Vodafone said. The operator offered no further insight into itsÂ negotiations to buyÂ a controlling interest in Indian operator Hutchison Essar. The board is continuing to investigate the possibility and will only agree to a deal that meets Vodafone's financial criteria, Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin said during a conference call to discuss the results. U.S. operator Verizon Wireless, in which Vodafone owns a stake, also did well during the quarter, with Vodafone's share of the business acquiring one million new customers. Vodafone is still pleased with its stake in Verizon Wireless, although the company uses a different wireless technology to that used by Vodafone's holdings elsewhere in the world. "There is no concept of our selling our interest there," Sarin said. While rumors have surfaced regularly over the past few years that Verizon Wireless might be considering a major technology change, that's still doubtful, Sarin said. Even Apple'sÂ much anticipated iPhone, which operates on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), the technology that competes with Verizon's CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) network, is unlikely to encourage Verizon to make a change, Sarin said. The migration to fourth-generation networks, which operators will begin to make in the next few years, will probably cement Verizon's choice. "That's the time Verizon Wireless will think about what next generation of technology that they can deploy and of course they'll try to deploy a technology that is as backward compatible as they can," he said. Data services are also paying off for Vodafone. Non-voice average revenue per user was up 62 percent for the quarter compared to the year earlier. Vodafone has attracted 50 percent of its total customers to sign up for Passport, a plan that offers reduced rates on roaming. The European Commission is proposing a regulation that would require operators to reduce their roaming rates. Vodafone doesn't expect the commission to make a final decision until this summer, said Sarin.
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The UK&#39;s biggest service provider, with million customers, is leading the 3G push with 10 new handsets, seven of which will be exclusive to Vodafone - with the Sharp 902 debuting as Europe&#39;s first two-megapixel camera phone.
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British giant Vodafone said it aimed to become the second biggest operator in Japan through an aggressive push in third-generation (3G) service which is taking off in the country.
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Vodafone is expected to say next week that its core profit margin will continue to fall in the current financial year, as the world&#39;s largest mobile phone group by revenue fights fierce competition in its European markets.
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The company joins Vodafone and 3 as providers of high-speed services such as video calling, entertainment downloads and internet access.
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Vodafone is to hand out Â£6bn to shareholders this year thanks to a doubling of its dividend and an increase in its share buy-back programme.
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Subsidy cuts UK telecommunications operator O2 will aim to break the mobile phone handset upgrade cycle with a new selection of tariffs that will be cheaper than the pay-as-you-talk and monthly contract offerings currently available.â¦
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British mobile phone giant Vodafone has launched its first self-branded low-cost third generation (3G) mobile  handsets which will be rolled out in Europe from October.
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Â£40m next generation deal Vodafone has agreed to pay Cable and Wireless Â£40m over two years to help it migrate its backend and enterprise functions to an IP-based network.â¦
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Vodafone, the world&#39;s largest mobile phone operator, today finally launched its third generation (3G) services as it seeks to recoup Â£16.
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British mobile phone giant Vodafone said it planned to launch a high-speed broadband Internet service for its millions of customers in Britain.
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VoIP service will be available using traditional handsets.
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LONDON -- Cell phone giant Vodafone Group PLC, which has spent years struggling to recoup billions spent on 3G licences, finally launched the cutting-edge service Wednesday in much of Europe and introduced or beefed up its operation in a dozen other
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British mobile phone giant Vodafone  Group Plc  said on Monday it added a net 4.5 million new  customers in the first quarter of its financial year, and  reiterated its full-year guidance.
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British mobile phone company Vodafone   Plc is set to announce it will sell own-brand low-cost 3G   handsets from October, a source close to the company said on   Wednesday.