Vodafone

Is The Sun Beginning To Set On The Telecom Sector's Empires?

Submitted by David Pringle on February 18, 2010

Are we witnessing the last days of the telecoms raj? At this year's Mobile World Congress, the mobile phone industry's biggest annual get together, there was a palpable sense that power is slowly, but surely, passing from the longstanding big guns of the mobile telecoms services industry, such as Vodafone, France Telecom and AT&T, to Google, Facebook, Skype and other web upstarts.
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Mobile Industry Strikes Back At Google And Apple

Submitted by Jennifer L. Schenker on February 15, 2010

 Google chief executive Eric Schmidt managed to snag a cherished slot as a keynote speaker at this year's Mobile World Congress,  the industry's biggest annual bash.   But announcements made at the show's opening February 15 illustrate how the mobile sector is struggling to grab the spotlight back from  Apple and Google.Read more

Proposed Merger of India's Bharti AirTel and South Africa's MTN Collapses

Submitted by Nandini Lakshman on October 2, 2009

Once again, politics torpedoed two emerging markets’ telecom behemoths from walking down the aisle. The proposed $24 billion deal between India’s largest mobile player Bharti Airtel and South Africa’s flagship MTN was called off on September 30.
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European Mobile Industry Consolidates

Submitted by Jennifer L. Schenker on September 8, 2009

Plans by Deutsche Telekom and France Telekom to merge their U.K. phone units is a sign of further consolidation in the industry as financial pressure increases on European phone companies. The deal, announced Sept. 8, would create the U.K.’s largest cellular operator, catapulting the merged entity ahead of Telefonica’s 02 unit and pushing rival Vodafone to number three in its home market.Read more

Blyk's Saga: The Limits of Ad-Supported Mobile

Submitted by Jennifer L. Schenker on August 5, 2009

Blyk, a European ad-supported mobile phone service with gold-plated backing and a dream management team, was considered a serious potential threat to mobile operators when it launched in 2006. But mobile advertising has not reaped the hoped-for financial benefits for either Blyk or traditional operators. Now, the two sides are teaming up in the hopes of getting better results.
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SeedCamp CEO Reshma Sohini: How to Focus Your Start-up

Submitted by Reshma Sohoni on June 9, 2009


Since January this year I have listened to pitches from over 120 startups all over Europe, as part of our mini-Seedcamp tour. For those of you who don’t know  we run a series of events aimed at encouraging, supporting and funding start-ups all over Europe. The pitches I see are the ‘best-of-the-best’ in their region. I’ve seen people pitch in TelAviv and Warsaw, Slovenia and London.  You might be surprised to learn that there are a lot of common themes which have emerged along the way.Read more

India's Bharti Airtel and South Africa's MTN Resume Merger Talks

Submitted by Nandini Lakshman on May 25, 2009

Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecom company, and South Africa’s MTN Group have resumed talks of a possible merger. A deal would create a telecom juggernaut with annual revenues of $20 billion and over 200 million subscribers across India, the Middle East and Africa. The user numbers alone would make the merged entity the third largest telecom player in the world after China Mobile and Vodafone, ahead of AT&T and many large European telcos.Read more

Vodafone's Quest to Attract Application Developers

Submitted by Jennifer L. Schenker on May 14, 2009

Vodafone unveiled a suite of initiatives on May 12 designed to attract content creators and third-party application developers to deliver a range of Vodafone-branded applications and services. The operator will extend access to a standard set of application programme interfaces (APIs) that enable developers to create software that uses capabilities such as direct billing and location awareness.
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Vodafone Introduces DRM-Free MP3 Tracks From Three of World's Largest Record Companies

Submitted by Jennifer L. Schenker on March 11, 2009

Vodafone announced March 11 that it has signed deals with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI Music to offer their tracks and albums DRM free (without digital rights management) across Vodafone markets for both mobile phones and PCs.
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The Mobile Internet Takes Center Stage At Barcelona Conference

Submitted by Jennifer L. Schenker on February 13, 2009

As many as 50,000 people –including the most important movers and shakers of the wireless business -are once again converging for the Mobile World Congress, the annual industry gathering which opens Feb. 16 in Barcelona. Attendance this year is expected to dip, along with sales of mobile handsets, giving  the sector less reason to celebrate in 2009.  The hope is that  mass take-up of the mobile Internet will nonetheless drive revenues.Read more

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