Originally posted by: dartworth
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
They own Verizon.
ZV
They own less than 50% in Verizon...they don't own them.
OK, they have a friggin' huge stake in Verizon. They have the single largest stake in Verizon Wireless. Happy?
From Reuters Investor:
Vodafone Group Public Limited Company, incorporated in 1984, provides a range of mobile telecommunications services, including voice and data communications. The Company has presence in Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Far East through its subsidiary undertakings, associated undertakings and investments. It operates in 28 countries worldwide. The Company also has controlling interests in certain non-mobile telecommunications businesses, including Arcor AG & Co KG, Cegetel Groupe S.A. and Japan Telecom Co., Ltd.
Mobile Telecommunications Services
Vodafone's mobile subsidiaries operate under the brand name Vodafone, with the exception of its business in Japan, which operates as J-Phone Vodafone. In the United States, the Company's associated undertaking operates as Verizon Wireless. As of March 31, 2003, Vodafone had approximately 119.7 million customers, excluding paging customers, and 296.0 million registered venture customers.
On April 1, 2001, in response to its expansion, the Company implemented a reorganization of its overall management structure into five main regions: Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa; Central Europe; Southern Europe; Americas and Asia, and Pacific. On December 18, 2001, the Company announced a further change to its regional structure. With effect from January 1, 2002, the Company's interests in Japan, China and India were formed into a new Asia region. On November 25, 2002, Vodafone announced that its Asia region and Pacific region, comprising its interests in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, China, India and Fiji, were to be merged to form the Asia Pacific region.
The Company's interests in Northern Europe are made up of subsidiary undertakings in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden, as well as associated undertakings in Belgium and France. Its operating subsidiaries in the region are Vodafone UK Limited, Vodafone Ireland Limited, Vodafone Netherlands, Vodafone Sweden and Societe Francaise du Radiotelephone (SFR).
Vodafone's interests in Central Europe include subsidiary undertakings in Germany and Hungary and associated undertakings in Poland and Switzerland. Its operating subsidiaries in the region are Vodafone D2 GmbH, Vodafone Hungary, Swisscom Mobile S.A. and Polkomtel S.A.
The Company's interests in Southern Europe consist of subsidiary undertakings in Italy, Albania, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Spain, as well as an associated undertaking in Romania. Its operating subsidiaries in the region are Vodafone Omnitel N.V., Vodafone Greece, Vodafone Malta Limited, Vodafone Portugal, Vodafone Spain and Vodafone Albania Sh.A.
The Company's interests in the Americas include a 45% ownership interest in Verizon Wireless, which was formed at the beginning of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001 (fiscal 2001) by the combination of the United States cellular operations of the Company, Bell Atlantic Corporation and GTE Corporation, and a 34.5% interest in Grupo Iusacell. Verizon Wireless increased its customer base by 13% over fiscal 2002 and ended the year with a registered customer base of 33,324,000, of which 93% were on contract plans. Iusacell provides wireless services in seven of Mexico's nine regions, covering a population of 90 million people and representing approximately 90% of the country's total population.
The Company's interests in the Asia Pacific region are comprised of subsidiary undertakings in Japan, Australia and New Zealand; associated undertakings in Fiji and India, and interests in China. Vodafone's operating subsidiaries in the region are J-Phone Vodafone, Vodafone Australia, RPG Cellular Services Limited and China Mobile.
Vodafone's operations and ownership interests in the Middle East and Africa Region encompass the subsidiary company, Vodafone Egypt Telecommunications Company SAE. They also include two associated undertakings, Safaricom in Kenya and Vodacom in South Africa.
In addition to its mobile telecommunications services, the Company launched the Vodafone live! service in October 2002. Vodafone live! is a consumer service that offers color, sound and pictures, enabling customers to use picture messaging, download polyphonic ringtones and color games and browse branded infotainment from integrated camera phones through an icon-driven menu. As of March 31, 2003, the Company had connected more than one million active live! customers in 10 countries. Of the Vodafone live! customers, Germany had over 405,000, Italy 227,000 and the United Kingdom 240,000. Since March 31, 2003, Vodafone live! has also been launched in Australia, Egypt and New Zealand.
Mobile Connect Card, the first of Vodafone's global business services to be offered under Mobile Office from Vodafone, was also launched in 12 countries during fiscal 2002. Mobile Connect Card, a high-speed data card enabling customers to access their normal business applications when out of the office, is aimed at all business users, from large corporate customers to those in the small and medium-sized enterprise sector, and is marketed and sold through the Company's direct sales, retail and e-channels, as well as partner channels for several personal computer (PC) brands.
The Company's competitors in Northern Europe include Orange, O2, T-Mobile, KPN, Dutchtone, Telia, Tele2 and Bouygues. The Company's competitors in Central Europe include T-Mobil, E-Plus, O2, Westel, Pannon GSM, Centertel, ERA, Sunrise and Orange. Its competitors in Southern Europe include TIM, Wind, Cosmote, Stet Hellas, Q-Telecom, Optimus, Movistar, Amena, Orange, Cosmorom and Telemobil. In the Americas, the Company competes with AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless, Nextel, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile and Iusacell Digital. Competitors in Asia Pacific include Telstra, Optus, Orange, Telecom Corporation, NTT DoCoMo, China Unicom, China Telecom and China Netcom. The Company's competitors in the Middle East and Africa include Mobinil, MTN and Cell C.
Non-Mobile Telecommunications Services
Arcor provides fixed network services in Germany. As of March 31, 2003, Arcor's contract voice customer base increased by approximately 10% to 2,600,000 customers.
Cegetel is a fixed line operator in France and the remaining 80% shareholder in SFR, the Company' French subsidiary. Cegetel offers broadband services in addition to fixed line services. During fiscal 2003, the Company increased its interest in Cegetel to 30%.
The Company owns an effective 66.7% interest in Japan Telecom, a fixed line telecommunications operator in Japan, offering both voice and data services. Since the Company gained control in October 2001, Japan Telecom's profitability has improved significantly as the benefits of management's transformation plan start to be realized.
In the German fixed line market, Arcor's strongest competitor is Deutsche Telekom.
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