Vodafone says has no plans to bid for Verizon
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British-based mobile phone group Vodafone  said on Monday it had no plans to bid for U.S. group Verizon Communications Inc , denying a media report.
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InfoWorld - Vodafone Group intends to keep its stake in Verizon Wireless, despite a proposal submitted by a large shareholder recommending a change in the holding.
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(InfoWorld) - Vodafone has begun offering new fees and features to stir demand for mobile Internet services as competition hits the company's profits from voice services. Two of the group's largest subsidiaries, Germany's Vodafone D2 GmbH and Vodafone Ltd. in the U.K., announced new mobile data offerings on Wednesday with subsidiaries in several other markets planning customized packages of their own, according to Vodafone Group spokesman Mark Street. "Pricing for these new mobile Internet services will be on a market by market basis, and it will be up to each market to decide on features," Street said. "But what I can say is that as a group, we're looking at prices that are predictable and transparent and services that offer value for their money." The move comes as Vodafone, which has been facing tough competition from low-cost mobile phone operators, seeks new revenue streams to offset falling prices from its traditional cash-cow voice service. It has also been prompted by mobile Internet services, such as T-Mobile International AG's Web n' Walk, designed for quick, easy, and competitively priced mobile phone surfing. As of July 15, Vodafone customers in Germany can subscribe to the new mobile Internet service, called "Handy 2.0," available for a flat monthly fee of â¬9.95 ($13.44) . The service uses the open-source Opera mobile phone browser, which formats content for easy viewing on small displays, according to Vodafone D2 spokeswoman Bettina Donges. "Handy 2.0 will be like a PC experience," Donges said. "You'll be able to surf all around the Net with your mobile phone, the pages will be compiled fast, and they'll be easy to read." The new flat-rate Internet offering, however, doesn't apply to VoIPÂ applications, according to Donges. Vodafone will not support mobile VoIP service until it can guarantee quality service, Street said. In addition, Vodafone has struck Internet partnerships with eBay, Google, YouTube, and MySpace.com to provide services specially tailored for mobile phones. Customers access the Internet service through the Vodafone Live mobile portal. The portal service is included in the various bundled minute packages available from the German operator. Initially, several handsets, including the Nokia N73 and N95, the Motorola V3 and V980, and the Samsung Zv60 and D900i, will support the Handy 2.0 service, but other phones will be added over time. In the U.K., Vodafone is launching a similar service that takes Web pages designed for PCs and makes them easy to read on handsets. The Vodafone Mobile Internet offerings also includes partnerships with eBay, Google, YouTube, and MySpace as well as Yahoo. Analysts see a couple of advantages to the partnerships. By collaborating with these brands, Vodafone not only gives customers a better experience of using their Internet services on their phones but will also benefit from advertising revenue opportunities, according to John Delaney, principal analyst at Ovum Ltd. One slight difference between the German and U.K. offering is the price: U.K. customers who sign up for a data pack pay Â£7.50 ($14.90 ) per month for 120MB of data, which is equivalent to four hours of viewing YouTube or up to 160 mobile Internet pages every day for a month. Other customers are charged per kilobyte, up to a Â£1 per day for 500KB, with no additional charge unless the day's usage exceeds 15MB.
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Vodafone seems to be lining up a November launch of its 3G mobile phone service for the consumer user. To date the operartor has only offered next generation mobile serivces on a selective basis to business users.
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Verizon Communications Inc. has  eyed a potential acquisition of Sprint Corp. FON.N, but has  no imminent plans to make a bid, people familiar with the  situation said on Tuesday.
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Verizon Wireless, the nation&#39;s largest wireless carrier, will not participate in a national 411 wireless phone database, chief executive Dennis Strigl told a US Senate committee on Tuesday.
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(InfoWorld) - Vodafone Group is counting on the MySpace.com social networking site to drive its U.K. customers to use their mobile phones for more than just talking. The two companies have struck a deal the to distribute software for updating a MySpace user profile from a mobile phone, the companies announced on Wednesday. The agreement is the first MySpace, which is owned by News Corp., has reached with a European carrier, a MySpace spokesman said. It calls for Vodafone to ship an application on new mobile phones it sells that will allow MySpace users to e-mail, blog, manage their community of friends and post comments to other users' profiles. The application, which will also be available for download, will be launched before the end of the year for U.K. users, the companies said. Pricing for use of the application has not been set, a Vodafone spokesman said. The agreement could help Vodafone nudgeÂ slow overall revenue growth in Europe, by drawing on the MySpace's popularity to boost use of mobile data services. Vodafone saw growth in mobile data services revenue accelerate in the fourth quarter, but the total still lagged far behind revenue from voice services. MySpace counted 90 million unique visitors worldwide in December, the spokesman said. Vodafone has about 16.9 million customers in the U.K. MySpace launched a similar dealÂ in the U.S. in December with Cingular Wireless. Cingular subscribers can download a Java application that lets them manipulate MySpace for $2.99 per month plus standard use charges.
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Or any of the other biggies, for that matter AT&amp;T chief executive Randall Stephenson has told the Financial Times that despite speculation it's not planning to buy Vodafone.â¦
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Vodafone Group has denied a Monday report by the Financial Times that it was considering buying Verizon Communications in a huge $160 billion deal.
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Row goes to arbitration Vodafone is still refusing to officially recognise the Connect union, which is so keen to represent its members it has taken Vodafone to the government's Central Arbitration Committee to force recognition.â¦
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update Verizon Communications has no imminent plans to bid for Sprint, people familiar with the situation said Tuesday, toppling a potential obstacle to Sprint&#39;s $37.8 billion bid for Nextel Communications.
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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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Talking telephone numbers Vodafone has denied rumours that it is considering a leveraged buyout of US giant Verizon.â¦
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Wireless telecommunications company  Vodafone Group Plc  has been considering a $160 billion  takeover bid for Verizon Communications Inc. , the  Financial Times reported on Monday on its Alphaville Web site.
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Vodafone non adotterÃ  in Italia la stessa politica commerciale che ha fatto negli ultimi mesi la fortuna di 3, ovvero quella di vendere i telefoni cellulari fortemente scontati, al fine di attrarre un maggior numero di clienti.
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Vodafone said Monday that it remained interested in acquisitions in France, eastern Europe, Asia and Africa as the mobile phone company detailed cost cuts that it expects will reach an annual Â£2.
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Shhh, don't tell the terrorists Vodafone is telling customers that VoIP services are insecure - even as Sky News is reporting that VoIP calls threaten our war on terror because such calls can't be intercepted.â¦