Vodafone relies on Verizon as profit from Europe declines (USA, UK)
Telecom operator Vodafone Group Plc will have to rely on its U.S. wireless venture to meet profit estimates and cover up declining sales in the European markets, largely Spain and Italy, according to a report by BN.
Vodafone said that operating profit excluding some items may rise as much as 3.2 percent in the 12 months ending March 2013. Profit on that basis slipped 2.4 percent last year to $18 billion after the sale of a stake in its SFR French unit. Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile carrier, accounted for 42 percent of the total, an increase of 9.3 percent.
As per the report, Vodafone, which relies on western Europe for most of its revenue, is no longer the world’s biggest mobile-phone company as China Mobile Ltd. boosted sales last year to $81.7 billion. While profits and sales at Verizon Wireless are rising, Newbury, England-based Vodafone still needs to negotiate dividends every year with U.S. partner Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), which controls 55 percent of the venture.
Vodafone may be planning European reorganization (Europe)
Telecom giant Vodafone Group Plc may be planning a reorganization post the departure of European chief Michel Combes, according to a report by BN.
As per the report, one scenario involves separating Vodafone’s European operating companies into a group consisting of western Europe and a second entity made up of Turkey, central and eastern Europe. A third group would include Vodafone’s assets in southern Africa and India.
The report reveals Paolo Bertoluzzo, 46, who runs the Italian unit, and Serpil Timuray, the head of Vodafone Turkey, are among internal executives seen to take on greater responsibilities, alongside Michael Joseph, the former CEO of Vodafone’s Kenyan subsidiary who is now director of global payments, said Will Draper, an analyst at Espirito Santo Investment Bank in London.
Vodafone said Deputy Chairman John Buchanan will stand down from the board this summer. Buchanan, a Vodafone director since 2003, was appointed chairman of British semiconductor designer ARM Holdings Plc (ARM) this month. Luc Vandevelde, the former Marks & Spencer Group Plc chairman, will become a senior independent director.
Samsung Galaxy SIII pricing revealed in the UK (UK)
Following the launch of the Samsung SIII in London, mobile operators in the UK have announced their plans to sell the handset along with the pricing details. According to a report by the Inquirer, mobile networks O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Three and Vodafone have all announced that they will be selling the handset, leaving Virgin Media as the only mobile operator yet to jump on the Galaxy S III bandwagon.
Mobile users can also purchase the Galaxy S III from Phones 4u and Carphone Warehouse. As per the report, the operators have also revealed the pricing for the Galaxy SIII. Mobile operator Three will be selling the handset on a 24 month $55 contract with no upfront cost, it announced, which will come with 2,000 minutes, 5,000 Three-to-Three minutes, 5,000 texts and all-you-can-eat data.
For those users who are not interested in purchasing a year contract, they can avail the handset via Phones 4u and Carphone Warehouse for $808.
Vodafone India raises call prices for postpaid segment by 20% (India)
Telecom operator Vodafone India Ltd. has increased the call rates for its local and national calls, for its postpaid segment, by 20 percent. According to reports, the change rates are effective from May 1 and highlight the decline of price wars in the country.
According to a report by DJN, in July last year, Bharti Airtel Ltd, along with Idea Cellular Ltd. and Vodafone India hiked call rates for some of their services. In August, second-ranked Reliance Communications Ltd. said it had also raised call tariffs.
As per the report, the development is likely to add to a view chorused by the industry that high minimum prices proposed recently by India’s telecom regulator for the auction of second-generation bandwidth will lead to higher prices for customers. Stiff competition and lower entry prices have led to call rates remaining as low as less than a U.S. cent a minute.
Operators speak out against TRAI recommendations (India)
Indian telecoms regulator Trai had recommended that refarming of airwaves in the 900 MHz band, largely held by incumbents and BSNL, be undertaken next year, and industry experts estimate that leading mobile phone companies will have to pay about $17.1 billion to retain the airwaves they hold, according to a report by ET. Trai had said that the spectrum available with incumbents in the 900 MHz band should be replaced by spectrum in the 1800 MHz band, which should be charged at the price prevalent at the time of refarming.
In response to this, the chief executives of five mobile phone companies – Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Uninor and Videcon – had told telecom minister Kapil Sibal that accepting the regulator’s ‘flawed, retrograde, regressive and uncertain recommendations would irretrievably harm consumer interests, ring the death knell for the sector and lead to prolonged disputes and litigation.
As per the report, Bharti Airtel CEO for India and South Asia, Sanjay Kapoor, Vodafone India MD and CEO Marten Pieters, Idea Cellular managing director Himanshu Kapania, Uninor chief executive Sigve Brekke and Videcon Telecommunications’ director and CEO Arvind Ball had also alleged that the regulator had not carried out any study to examine the socio-techno-economic aspects and had ignored contractual and other rights of the affected operators.
The report claims that Vodafone’s latest communication further adds that substitution of 900 MHz with 1800 MHz will lead to disruption of services for hundreds of thousands of mobile customers severely disrupting the quality of services for years to come while also pointing out the huge costs for setting up additional towers for the 1800 MHz network was likely to translate to higher tariffs for customers.
Vodafone said that extension of licenses with a different type and quantum of spectrum was legally flawed added that mobile permits were already technology neutral.
Verizon users for Razr and Rezound may get Android 4.0 upgrade in May (USA)
Verizon users may finally have reason to celebrate as recent rumours suggest that users of the Droid Razr and the Rezound may be getting the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) update in May, according to a report by Cnet.
As per the report Verizon plans to push Ice Cream Sandwich over the air to HTC Rezound users on May 9 and Droid Razr / Razr MAXX users on May 21. It’s also noted that Verizon typically pushes out updates in batches over a two-week period, so Rezound and Razr owners probably shouldn’t expect to see that little Android icon unpacking the update on the exact dates above.
As reported earlier, Vodafone’s Samsung Galaxy S II holders received their Android update earlier this month.
Samsung confirms use of 1.4 GHz Quad-Core Processor in Galaxy S III (South Korea)
In a recent press release, handset giant Samsung, has confirmed that it will be using the quad-core Exynos processor chip in its upcoming smartphone, the Galaxy S III. According to reports, the company said that the processor chip is scheduled to be adopted first into Samsung’s next Galaxy smartphone that will be officially announced on May 3, in London. The new chip is expected to offer significantly higher processing capability while using 20 percent lesser power consumption.
Samsung is yet to confirm other factors such as the screen size which is rumoured t be between 4.5 to 4.8 inches. Further, the phone is expected to be compatible with 4G/LTE. As per reports, Samsung has claimed that mobile operators Vodafone and O2 will sell the Galaxy SIII, while it is rumoured that Verizon may be approached to sell the phone in US.
Vodafone may not succeed in CWW deal (UK)
Telecom opeartor Vodafone may find it tougher to acquire Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) as its bid of $ 1.7 billion has not been accepted by CWW’s largest shareholder, saying that the bid doesn’t reflect the value of the U.K. fixed-line network operator.
According to a report by BN, Orbis Holdings Ltd., which owns a 19 percent stake, said that the proposed deal is clearly attractive for Vodafone shareholders. However, they are concerned that the offer price does not appear to reflect the value inherent in CWW.
Vodafone, had proposed an offer to pay 38 pence a share in cash in an offer recommended by Cable & Wireless’s board. Investors holding 18.6 percent of Cable & Wireless shares have agreed to back the deal. Vodafone, which needs support from shareholders representing 75 percent, predicts that the deal will be completed in the third quarter, as per the report.
Following India based Tata Communication’s withdrawal from the acquisition process, Vodafone is now the sole operator left bidding to acquire CWW.
