LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The telecoms regulator on Thursday fined the Greek unit of UK mobile giant Vodafone 19.1 mln eur for violating network regulations in a wire-tapping scandal that rocked the country last year.

The fine is the second handed to Vodafone Hellas over the case after a 76 mln eur penalty levelled by Greece's communication privacy watchdog last December.

Some 100 Vodafone cellphones in February 2006 were found to have been compromised by an illicit network that tapped sets used by Greek Premier Costas Karamanlis, his wife and several ministers from June 2004 to March 2005.

The tapping used software slipped into Vodafone's network by unknown perpetrators to illegally activate an Ericsson-made module permitting call interception.

On Thursday, the national telecommunications regulator EETT accused Vodafone of breaching regulations on the protection of telecommunications privacy, network maintenance and quality, and consumer protection.

The company rejected last December's fine as 'illegal, unfair and baseless.'

A Greek parliament committee collecting evidence on the case last November noted the involvement of three employees of telecoms giants Ericsson Hellas and Vodafone Greece, identified only by their initials.

'The whole system could not operate without Ericsson know-how and without access from within (Vodafone),' the report said.

The Greek branch of Swedish telecom equipment giant Ericsson has also been fined 7.36 mln eur over the case.

The parliamentary committee did not rule out the involvement of other people operating outside Greece.

The Greek justice department has opened an investigation into the case but nobody has yet been charged.

Days before the affair came to light, a senior Vodafone expert was found hanged inside his home.

The death of Costas Tsalikidis, manager of Vodafone Greece's network planning section, was linked to the case and his family suspects he was murdered.

cynic . BARC is cheap BD as got to return barcs back to over 400p or he will have to step down that is what he said in a round about way returns to holders are unexceptable he now has 7 months left to do it . so i am buying

thanks tanks ..... i've got RBS for my sins .,... meanwhile, VOD chart below shows nice break back above 200 dma with next resistance at about 172.5 with 25 dma

A nice steady rise to about 185p will do me....worth more than div.

cynic . remember fund managers only buy at the higher level they will buy at 185p .they are useless that is why people putting money in to pensions are fools

chuckle chuckle ..... you don't like those boys much do you ..... nor do i!

cynic . i just feel sorry for the folk buying in to pension funds and getting rubbish returns and the useless F/M getting paid

have bought a load more TW.

Tank is correct about those bandits. Most of them have less idea about stocks than guys on BB's

I would let Tabby be my fund manager.

Enter Dil - stage left :-)

these are doing very well on a down market day 200p on cards in short time

If only.....

for myself, not liking the feel of the market at the moment, i have banked my modest but very acceptable profit at 170.85 ...... having said that, if sp keeps moving north, i could easily be tempted back at some juncture

cynic have just bought 50k of sbry for div 10.8p they go ex div today 4.30

OK for a ftse down day.

thanks tanks but not in a buying mood at all at the moment - all looking very nasty, though i guess a heavy retrenchment is o'due

cynic did you see the trades inTW today at the end of day

no but you obviously did - i hold

I hold but it's going south again.,.

.

Taken from Kyoto's post on the trader's thread.

VOD Citigroup [HB]: reiterated buy, tp 195
VOD JPMorgan [HB]: reiterated overweight, tp 225
VOD Morgan Stanley: reiterated overweight, tp reiterated 225
VOD Nomura: reiterated buy, tp reiterated 210
VOD S&P: upgraded to buy from hold
VOD UBS [HB]: reiterated neutral, tp 170