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.

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

good cos i bought back in this morning, albeit at a touch higher than i sold yesterday

Nice VOD

vod to get 4.6b div from V/W what are they going to do with it div

Give it to shareholders I hope.

i am back in again too. the lure of the divi was too much for me.

When's Ex. divi day chaps?

Think it was june 5th but stand to be corrected.,.

ex divi 1 jun according to halifax webpage

Ex-Div 01-Jun-11, Paid 05-Aug-11, Amount 6.05p

t'anks tanks! ...... first barrier of 172.25 broken so last barrier at about 174.25 (50 dma) is the next important target