T-Mobile Marketing Chief joins Vodafone UK
Srini Gopalan has been appointed as the Consumer Director of Vodafone UK. Gopalan will be responsible for the UK’s Consumer Business Unit and its P&L.
Before joining Vodafone UK, Gopalan was working as Chief Marketing Officer of T Mobile UK.
According to Vodafone UK CEO, Guy Laurence, Srini brings a wealth of knowledge around delivering great value to new and existing customers by driving effective marketing campaigns which increase market share.
In his opinion, his experience in improving business performance in competitive industries will have a positive impact for both their customers and their business.
Vodafone to support British Gas Smart Meters
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: For the roll out of smart metering in the UK, Vodafone UK is working with British Gas. Both the companies have entered into a multi million pound contract. Under the contract, Vodafone will provide nearly 1 million GPRS connections within household meters.
This will help families to monitor the energy they use, leading to cost savings and reduced CO2 emissions. There is no need for anyone to wait for someone to read the energy meter.
Rather, the bill will be received automatically by them for exactly what they’ve used along with the energy use data sent from the in-home smart meter back to British Gas over the Vodafone network.
Vodafone UK signs contract with British Gas
Vodafone UK has signed a contract with British Gas on the rollout of smart metering in the UK. This multi-million pound contract will be providing nearly 1 million GPRS connections within household meters.
With this contract, the families will no longer need to wait in for someone to read their energy meter. Instead, they will be getting a bill automatically for exactly what they have used with the energy use data sent from the in-home smart meter back to British Gas over the Vodafone network
According to Peter Kelly, Vodafone’s Enterprise Director, the company is always improving services to make their customers’ lives easier. They are pleased to work with British Gas on this trial to accelerate the roll-out of smart meters into British homes.
Vodafone UK’s confirmation on job cuts faces Union’s anger
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Vodafone announcement to cut 375 jobs in the UK has met with severe anger and disappointment from the trade unions. The union has expressed its concern that despite assurances from Vodafone that the losses would only affect back-office jobs, customer-facing jobs would be affected.
Vodafone has been contacted by the Prospect union for professionals to express serious concerns about the lack of consultation about the job losses and it has been brought out in the report that without any notice and without any redundancy consultation, the workers were being asked to leave the business.
According to Prospect National Officer Steve Thomas, this was a disgraceful way to treat workers, especially some very long serving and loyal members of staff.
Vodafone UK remains silent on job cuts
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Plans for around 500 job losses in the UK unit of Vodafone have been reported as a part of a stepped up cost-cutting programme. The network’s headquarters in Newbury has the most predominant chances to expect this job cut.
However, any such claims has been dismissed as “highly speculative” by the Vodafone spokeswoman. 500 redundancies in the UK were announced by the company last year as part of an earlier £1 billion cost cutting exercise. Since then, the deadline for achieving the cuts has been brought forward besides doubling the target to £2 billion.
According to the media reports, the problem Vodafone have got is that it is so bloated, it has tons of people and they have to cut – it is absolutely essential.
Vodafone UK wins five new contracts for Vodafone One
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Five new contracts have been won by Vodafone UK for the Vodafone One unified communications service. The contract is worth around GBP 10 million and has been hailed as a ‘significant win’ from a rival network operator.
Vodafone now boasts of six major corporate contracts for the service and the list includes McLaren F1 team, a major bank and a leading construction company. Three more corporate contracts are expected to be signed by the company by March.
Vodafone replaces HSBC as UK’s most valuable brand
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Over stepping HSBC, the telecom operator Vodafone has emerged as UK’s most valuable brand and world’s seventh most valuable brand, rising one place from last year in an annual survey by a consultancy.
The world’s most valuable brand which is calculated using a bench-marking system looking at strength, risk, future potential and financial strength is Wal-Mart, according to the data. Google has moved from fifth place to second, overtaking Coca-Cola.
Femtocell service rebranded by Vodafone UK
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In a bid to increase its uptake, femtocell offering has been rebranded and its cost has been cut by British mobile network operator Vodafone UK. The cellco will market the devices under the Sure Signal moniker. Vodafone is the first operator to commercially launch femtocell in Europe under the Vodafone Access Gateway banner, in June 2009.
Indoor base stations cost has been cut to GBP50 (USD81.89) from the original GBP160 price point. According to Guy Laurence, CEO of Vodafone UK, no other network in the UK can ensure a great mobile phone signal in the home, because the Sure Signal is unique to Vodafone.
The sure signal device of Vodafone is compatible with all 3G handsets, plugs straight into any home or office broadband line with a download speed of at least 1Mbps, improving 3G coverage indoors.
Vodafone’s iPhone pitched in for enterprises
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In a bid to strengthen its position in the enterprise market, Vodafone has revealed its plan to drive iPhone uptake among its corporate customers. Smartphones capable of supporting email and Web-based applications alongside voice and messaging will be offered to drive Vodafone’s unified communications (UC) services.
Currently, a full UC service known as Vodafone One is offered by the company. In September 2009, BT Wholesale and Vodafone entered into partnership to launch Vodafone One Net, a hosted fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) offering in the U.K.
According to Peter Kelly, enterprise director of Vodafone UK, the company’s mobile voice, email and data services have enabled it to establish a strong position in the enterprise market, but now Vodafone’s enterprise customers are beginning to demand more
Vodafone launches new price plan to challenge T-Mobile
02 September 2006 – Vodafone has announced a new pricing structure for its monthly contract customers called ‘Your Price Plan’ and ‘Your Extras’
In an attempt to compete with T-Mobile Flex Tariff, the company has launched a flexible pricing structure based around giving its users a set amount of inclusive texts, minutes and extras.
Over the 12 months Vodafone has reportedly struggled to keep up with its competitors such at T-Mobile in attracting new customers in the UK.
T-Mobile on the other hand has reportedly attracted over 800,000 customers since March, while Orange has reorganised its tariff structure around its “Animals” campaign that pigeon-holes customers in two distinct groups such as dolphins and raccoons.
Vodafone customers who apply for the packages can choose the level of inclusive minutes, texts or data services they receive as part of a monthly contract, including mobile television and music downloads. For example, customers who opt to take an 18-month contract at £35 a month could choose to receive 750 minutes and 250 texts or alternatively 500 minutes, 500 texts and six months of free mobile television. The packages range from £20 a month to £75 a month and can be combined
with other Vodafone tariffs such as “Stop the Clock” and “Passport”.
To ensure the new pricing structure isn’t too confusing, Vodafone has said it has trained over 4,000 staff on the new price plan to help customers make the decision that is best for them.
“With Your Price Plan and Your Extras Vodafone customers will get the best choice of any contract offering on the market. We’ve paid close attention to what contract customers want and what the market is currently offering. We believe we’ve come back with something that gives value to every customer – in the way they want it,” said Tim Yates, a director at Vodafone UK.
Source- http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk
Technorati : Mobile, T-Mobile, Vodafone
Ice Rocket : Mobile, T-Mobile, Vodafone
