Category Archives: Vodafone
4G bidders may get low cost loans from European bank
Cash boost could improve next week’s auction prospects
Britain’s mobile operators could be in line for cheap loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to fund 4G roll-out once successful applicants from the nation’s spectrum auction, starting next week, are selected. The bank has already agreed to lend the country’s biggest operator EE around £350 million to upgrade its mast network and, according to insiders, is similarly interested in backing successful bidders of 4G. Continue reading
Chancellor counts on 4G chickens to ease Britain’s debt
UK could lose AAA rating if debt isn’t brought under control
Credit agencies are circling over Britain following yesterday’s [December 5th 2012] ‘mini budget’ revealing how reducing the nation’s 2012-13 deficit hinges largely on how much the government receives from its forthcoming 4G auction. UK Chancellor, George Osborne, told the House of Commons that he expects to receive £3.5 billion from the auction next month [January 2013] but Brian Potterill, director of PwC’s telecoms strategy team, is among those suggesting that it might generate as little as £2 billion. Continue reading
Boy seriously burned after BlackBerry Curve ‘spontaneously combusts’
RIM and safety officials probing what caused the phone to catch fire
Trading standards officials are investigating a fire at a house in Coventry, UK, thought to have been caused when a BlackBerry spontaneously combusted. An 11-year-old boy was awoken in the middle of the night with his bed engulfed in flames when the phone, on charge at the time and bought as a gift for his brother, is said to have malfunctioned. The family are now demanding the popular BlackBerry Curve 9320 mobile, bought from Vodafone on a £13 a month contract, is recalled from shops in time for Christmas. Continue reading
Guest Post: The importance of service range in choosing your mobile provider
by Stanley Parsons, a blogger who works closely with GSM Booster
Mobile phones have turned into one of the most valued possessions of people today. With instant communication and being in constant touch becoming an imperative feature of people’s lives, there are few ways in which one could imagine life prior to the advent of these mobile devices. Be it youngsters in college or busy executives or the elderly who are retired, mobile phones are necessary for them all and are, hence, heavily utilised. One of the most important criteria, however, is service range. Continue reading
Bank analysts give Vodafone thumbs down as trading toughens
Share price likely to head south
UK mobile phone giant ,Vodafone, whose dividend pay-outs are reckoned the best in the industry, has had its share price downgraded by analysts at Berenberg Bank who reckon its prospects will “remain challenging” throughout the first half of next year. Though the bank still recommends a price target of 185 pence a share, it expects Vodafone’s service revenue trends to worsen as the issue of spectrum costs also threatens profitability. Earnings estimates for 2014 and 2015 are similarly likely to be hit, it’s suggested, down 2-3 per cent. Continue reading
Vodafone’s new Red Hot plan disappoints some
Rating: Nice idea but a bit pricey
Recently, Vodafone in the UK introduced a new Red Hot plan, here, whereby you basically rent a industry-leading smartphone for a year. It defeats the present situation for most UK smartphone owners where the handset in their possession is out of date after circa three months but it’s been purchased on an 18 month contract. Nokia Lumia 800 users are a prime example because their existing phones won’t update to WP8. There appears to be two things wrong with this scheme. Firstly it only presently covers three handsets – Samsung Galaxy S III & Galaxy Note II plus the iPhone 5 and no tablets. Plus the telecoms experst at uSwitch.com (Ernest Doku to be precise) have done the math and Red Hot can work out pricey. Continue reading
Britain’s Ofcom ushers in prospects for ‘white space’ mobile broadband
New consultation aims to increase capacity without wrecking digital TV signals
UK regulator, Ofcom, has signalled that new City-wide Wi-Fi networks using ‘white spaces’ (the gaps in between bands of spectrum used to broadcast TV) could be up and running by Q1 2014. The announcement comes as Ofcom tries to avert a nationwide ‘capacity crunch’ and follows its own recent research revealing how Britain will need 80 times more airwave space in around 18 years (2030) than is currently needed. Continue reading
Vodafone to showcase how mobile can help women
Rating: Summit will help publicise thing like the TecSOS handset
To illustrate how mobile phones can be put to good purposes – especially to help womenVodafone Group, and Sir Andrew the London Business School are organising a Mobile for Good Summit .It will be held later this month December 10th 2012 in London but is invitation only. Shame because some of the speakers are pretty well-know. The list includes Ex- UK Prime Minister’s wife, Cherie Blair; ex-Autonomy boss, Dr Mike Lynch; and Yafang Sun who is chairwoman of the board with Huawei. Vodafone also appears to have created an online app to publicise Mobile for Good. There’s also something called a TecSOS handset for women in danger from domestic violence. Continue reading
Vodafone and the London Business School bring Mobile for Good summit to Tanks, Tate Modern
Press release
The Mobile for Good Summit will be held in London on 10 December, 2012, hosted by Vittorio Colao, CEO of Vodafone Group, and Sir Andrew Likierman, Dean of London Business School. The event will focus on the transformational impact mobile technology is having on global health, education, agriculture, financial services and the lives of women. The Summit is being funded by the Vodafone Foundation as part of its Mobile for Good programme. Continue reading
Vodafone in the dock over ‘misleading’ 4G adverts
EE says main rival shouldn’t promise a service it has yet to be awarded
Britain’s Vodafone is being reported to the Advertising Standard Authority by arch rival EE amid accusations it is duping customers with ‘misleading’ 4G claims. EE, the country’s biggest mobile operator which owns Orange and T-mobile, stole a seven month march on rivals recently when it was allowed to introduce 4G services using existing spectrum. Others like Vodafone, O2 and Three, will have to wait until around summer 2013 before they too can offer superfast services. Continue reading
3UK claims highest number of smartphone customers
Rating: Useful data on apps and mobile internet usage, too
The nice cosy chat with 3UK which GoMobile News enjoyed with 3K was literally peppered with info and stats which are pertinent to our readers. Our personal favourite was when CEO, Dave Dyson revealed Top Ten apps which 3UK customers actually use, which might not necessarily be the ones you might have expected. Some of these apps are slightly skewered by the kind of service which 3UK actually provides. For example, the operator has long provided access to Skype via the switched network as well as via the mobile internet. However, they are probably a fairly accurate reflection of the behaviour of UK mobile users in general. Other items of interest are comparisons between the UK operators Home pages and the percentage of customers who already possess a smartphone rather than just a featurephone. Continue reading
Vodafone Ireland shells out €160.85m for new 4G spectrum
Vodafone’s operation in Ireland has successfully bid for new 4G spectrum licences at a cost of €160.85 million. Continue reading
Britain’s EE geared for possible flotation by end 2013
French and German owners need the cash
The parent firms of Britain’s largest mobile group, EE, have revealed they could soon float part of it off, following similar moves by Russia’s MegaFon and Spain’s Telefonica recently. Gervais Pellissier, deputy CEO of France Telecom which owns EE jointly with Deutsche Telekom, has disclosed an IPO could take place at the end of 2013, although he says the parent companies would remain majority shareholders. Continue reading
Vodafone wins new Indian spectrum, but withdraws provisional funds meant to end tax feud
UK operator Vodafone has had second thoughts about setting aside money for a disputed India tax bill, its decision coming just hours after an announcement that it had secured the rights to new spectrum in 14 of the country’s regions.
Vodafone has been struggling to keep pace with its growing number of Indian customers who have more than doubled from 60 million to 150 million in the past four years, many in rural areas. Continue reading
Vodafone gives short shrift to unhappy investors
Despite disappointment over Verizon windfall, they’re told firm’s dividend is still best in Europe
Vodafone investors unhappy with the operator’s decision not to share out its £2.4 billion Verizon windfall have been told the move is in their best long-term interests. Yesterday [November 13th 2012] Britain’s biggest mobile carrier reported a shock loss in the first six months of the financial year, writing off £5.9 billion from its Spanish and Italian businesses due to the prolonged recession. Continue reading
