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.

i am in for divs over the next 2 years are not selling just adding

none of my buys have shown .

i see my buys on the plus market now added 53345 today

Shorters will have the FTSE again today

You're right. Sorry that the anticipated VOD bounce pm yesterday didn't happen, but maybe next week will see a step up once the US payroll figures are out of the way.

Correct harry good time to top up on dips oversold imho. Same with NG.

Chart support at 160p? After that, maybe down to 150p?

Tanker gotta be hurtin...glad i'm out.,.

baler i sold at 163.010p on the 20th

i am now looking at sbry want 325p

you lost money then even with div.,. can't win um all.

TANKER - 10 Jun 2011 09:22 - 192 of 194
baler i sold at 163.010p on the 20th


TANKER - 27 May 2011 09:11 - 145 of 194
have just added 20145 at 169095p

Surely some mistake?

Think the big money is all talk skinny.,.

yes it was correct i bought 20145 back and sold them 5 mins later .
i was ment to buy which i did lgen and it cost me 238 pounds
i was to quick on the keys old age

i have only been back home 10 mins what the hell is happening to drop like this again glad i did not put a buy in for sbry was going to buy at 325p now 322 .will wait

see wall street and it's obvious

cynic been out since 10 30 glad i did i was going to buy sbry,
but will keep a close eye on them

the states will never recover till that barmy obama is gone .

2012 he will be history. Love or hate Bush he was no pussy.

..Search for share prices
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.Fri 1 Jul 2011 17:51 - UK Markets are closed
..Vodafone buys Essar out of Indian JV for $5.46bn

tweet0Print..Companies:HUTCHISON WHAMPOAVODAFONE GRPTopics:Mergers & AcquisitionsInternationalAsia.Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
0013.HK 84.00 +1.60

VOD.L 164.30 -1.00


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{"s" : "0013.HK,VOD.L","k" : "a00,a50,b00,b60,c10,g00,h00,l10,p20,t10,v00","o" : "","j" : ""} Katherine Rushton, 18:23, Friday 1 July 2011

Vodafone (LSE: VOD.L - news) has sealed a deal to buy Essar out of their Indian joint venture for $5.46bn (3.4bn), finally putting an end to their turbulent four-year relationship.

The British telecoms giant has agreed to buy Essar's 33pc stake in Vodafone Essar after months of wrangling over the terms of the deal, giving it flexibility to operate more independently in the territory.

Vodafone and Essar initially went into business together in 2007, when Vodafone purchased a 67pc stake in Hutchison Whampoa (HKSE: 0013.HK - news) 's Indian telecoms business, in which Essar already had a stake.

The deal allowed Vodafone to enter the Indian market for the first time.

However, Vodafone and Essar clashed repeatedly, with Essar claiming Vodafone was trying to force them out of the joint venture and Vodafone criticising Essar's plans to restructure its telecoms business.

Under the terms of the initial deal, Essar retained a "put option" to sell its entire 33pc stake for $5bn by May 2011 and Vodafone said in March that it would buy Essar out of the joint venture.

Today's deal is $460m above Essar's put option, but $880m will be withheld for tax, which Essar believes it can later recover.

It sees a total severing of ties between the two companies, and Vodafone said in a statement that all outstanding claims between them have been terminated.