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.

Questor share tip: dial into Vodafone for good reception

Last weeks dividend virtually covered.

3 month high 176.65.

Toying with 180 today - 3 month high is 179.80 (earlier).

28 June 2012

VODAFONE GROUP ESTABLISHES NORTHERN & CENTRAL EUROPE AND SOUTHERN EUROPE REGIONS

PHILIPP HUMM AND PAOLO BERTOLUZZO APPOINTED TO REGIONAL CEO ROLES

Vodafone Group today announced the establishment of two new operating regions, Northern & Central Europe and Southern Europe, together with the appointment of Philipp Humm as Chief Executive, Northern & Central Europe and Paolo Bertoluzzo as Chief Executive, Southern Europe.

The Northern & Central Europe region comprises:

-- Germany;
-- the UK;
-- the Netherlands;
-- Turkey;
-- Ireland;
-- Hungary;
-- the Czech Republic; and
-- Romania.
Philipp Humm has been appointed to the role of Chief Executive for the new region, effective 1 October 2012. He joins Vodafone Group from T-Mobile USA, where he has served as President and CEO since 2010. He was previously the Chief Regional Officer, Europe and a member of the Executive Committee of T-Mobile International and CEO and Chief Sales Officer for T-Mobile Germany. A former Managing Director and European Vice President of Amazon Germany and France, Philipp Humm began his career at Procter & Gamble and has previously worked for McKinsey and the German grocery retailer Tengelmann.

Philipp Humm said: "Vodafone is a powerful brand with a strong focus on the customer coupled with a clear strategy for growth. I look forward to joining the team."

The Southern Europe region comprises:

-- Italy;
-- Spain;
-- Portugal;
-- Greece;
-- Albania; and
-- Malta.
Paolo Bertoluzzo has been appointed to the role of Chief Executive for the new region, effective 1 August 2012. He will also continue in his role as Chief Executive of Vodafone Italy. Paolo Bertoluzzo joined Vodafone in 1999 and was appointed Chief Executive of Vodafone Italy in 2008. Under his tenure, Vodafone Italy has achieved market share leadership in both service revenue and EBITDA as well as leadership in Net Promoter Score across all market segments.

Paolo Bertoluzzo said: "I welcome the opportunity to lead such an important part of Vodafone Group's global portfolio through this challenging period."

Both Philipp Humm and Paolo Bertoluzzo will join the Vodafone Group Executive Committee once their respective appointments take effect.

Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said: "Our new regional structure will underpin our strategy focused on meeting our customers' long-term needs, and Paolo and Philipp will be strong additions to the Vodafone Group Executive Committee."

- ends -

New 12 month high @184.1p @184.80p

VODAFONE TO ACQUIRE TELSTRACLEAR IN NEW ZEALAND.

Vodafone Group Plc ("Vodafone Group") today announces that Vodafone New Zealand has entered into an agreement to acquire TelstraClear Limited ("TelstraClear"), the New Zealand business of Telstra Corporation, for a cash consideration of NZ$840 million (£430 million1).

Vodafone New Zealand is the country's largest mobile operator with more than 2.4 million customers. TelstraClear is the second largest fixed operator in New Zealand with extensive fixed network assets and capabilities. Its customer base includes government and large corporations, small and medium enterprises as well as consumers.

Further re Recommended Cash Offer for CWW

In the scheme document dated 21 May 2012 (the "Scheme Document") relating to the scheme of arrangement implementing the Offer, it was stated that Vodafone had agreed to acquire one CWW Share prior to the Scheme Record Time.

CWW and Vodafone announce that, on 17 July 2012, CWW issued and allotted one CWW Share to Vodafone at a price of 38 pence. This means that Vodafone will be a member of CWW at the Scheme Record Time and accordingly there will be no requirement under section 593 of the Companies Act 2006 for an independent valuation of the new shares in CWW to be issued to Vodafone under the Scheme.

Defined terms used but not defined in this announcement have the meanings set out in the Scheme Document.

Closed at a new 12 month high 185.20p

Last time it was here was early 2008.

Interim Management Statement

. Group service revenue increased 0.6%(*); excluding mobile termination rate ('MTR') cuts growth was 2.3%(*)

. Continued strong service revenue growth in emerging markets: Vodacom 5.7%(*), India 16.2%(*) and Turkey 18.7%(*)

. Mixed trends in Europe: service revenue growth strong in Germany at 4.2%(*); UK - 0.8%(*) due to increased competition and a weaker economy; conditions in Italy (-7.7%(*)) and Spain (-10.0%(*)) remain challenging

. Verizon Wireless ('VZW') service revenue grew 8.2%(*) driven by data

. Group data revenue grew 17.1%(*) reflecting an increase in Europe smartphone penetration to 28.7%

. £0.9 billion of free cash flow after capital investment of £1.1 billion

. Good progress in strengthening our business: proposed acquisitions of Cable & Wireless Worldwide and TelstraClear; network sharing agreements in five markets

. Net debt reduced to £22.7 billion after receipt of final SoftBank proceeds (£1.5 billion) and £0.8 billion of share buybacks (£6.8 billion share buyback programmes almost complete)

. Full year outlook confirmed

..Questor share tip: Call up Vodafone in troubled times

By Garry White | Telegraph – 3 hours ago


VOD.L 180.00 -3.05

......
Vodafone (LSE: VOD.L - news) has been hit by its customer tightening their belts, but the shares are still attractive. Questor says buy Vodafone shares.

Vodafone 180p Questor says: Buy

Friday's first-quarter figures from Vodafone were weak, but the mobile-phone giant is still confident of meeting full-year consensus forecasts.

Revenue growth was representative of the economic backdrop, so is not too much of a surprise.

Revenue in Spain was down 10pc, but emerging markets saw good growth, with Indian revenues up 16.2pc and Turkey up 18.7pc.

However, total revenue fell 7.7pc year-on-year to £10.8bn after disposals. Revenue on a like-for-like basis edged 0.6pc higher below a consensus forecast of 0.8pc.

Vodafone’s customers are tightening their belts. They are making fewer calls and choosing call plans more carefully. This spooked some investors. In the first 10 minutes of trade on Friday, volumes were 10pc that of the group’s three-month daily average due to fears that a slowdown could crimp the group’s cash-generating ability.

The dividend is the reason to own the shares, so this is important. Dividend cover, as compiled by data group Morningstar (NasdaqGS: MORN - news) , is forecast to fall from 2.61 in 2010 to 1.24 in 2013 and 1.22 in 2014.

On Thursday, Fran Shammo, Verizon’s chief financial officer, said that the board of the Verizon Wireless joint venture with Vodafone does not plan to discuss a dividend payment at its next quarterly board meeting.

Despite the tough economic backdrop, Vodafone is still generating significant amounts of cash and cost-cutting plans will be accelerated.

With the shares yielding a prospective 7.4pc rising to 7.7pc and given the group’s track record during the depths of the credit crunch, Questor is relatively unconcerned.

A buy rating is maintained.

..

New 4 year high today @188.7p . 189.1p

And dividend received today!

How much was the divi haven't checked mine yet ?

6.47p

6.47p per share.
(sorry for the duplication!)

Weyhey ... cheers guys.

Excellent volume today, including 20 million in the auction.

Multi-country partner market agreement with Zain

VODAFONE AND ZAIN GROUP ANNOUNCE MULTI-COUNTRY PARTNER MARKET AGREEMENT

· Significantly expands Vodafone's presence in the Middle East and provides Zain with greater access to Vodafone's global footprint

· Advances both Vodafone and Zain's ability to deliver communications services to multinational businesses both in and out of the region

Robin Bienenstock of Bernstein:
"We think that Vodafone has outperformed its sector because of emerging market growth, the realisation of Verizon Wireless dividends and in some key European markets better than peer performance. Our hopes for broader industry transformation (widespread network sharing / abolition of handset subsidy) are likely to take longer and be more expensive than we might have hoped (particularly but not only in Germany). Meanwhile we expect accelerating revenue decline in Europe and slowing growth abroad to push the Company into negative Group revenue growth. Despite its sizeable dividend yield and the tantalising possibility of a Verizon bid we expect the share price to follow revenue momentum downwards. We are downgrading Vodafone from Outperform to Market-Perform and reducing our Target Price to GBp170/USD$27.00 as the miserable industry catches up a little with one of its few stars.
Vodafone pays a handsome dividend, and continues to be a relatively cheap way to own the best part of Verizon (though we, along with our US colleagues, believe this reflects in large part an unreasonably high price for Verizon Corp!). But if Vodafone has any acquisitive ambitions, or is as prudent on Europe as we are, the Company may choose to adjust the mix or amount of pass-through from VZW dividends. Any change to format and/or amount of the special dividend will ensure that VOD shareholders cannot view VZW dividends as ‘ordinary’. We expect Vodafone to pay a dividend of 14.19 GBp in FY13, rising to 15.57 GBp by FY17, a reduction of 13% on our previous forecasts.
The single largest risk to our downgrade would be an attempt by Verizon to buy back their 45% of Verizon Wireless either directly or through a merger/reverse takeover. Arguably there has never been a better time for Verizon to make its move – with the stampede to yield we think, along with our US colleagues, that Verizon’s paper is seriously overvalued. But with a Euro break up scenario still looming, Verizon may be discouraged from such an opportunity. Similarly, we think it would be hard for Verizon to raise the cash (we estimate some £50bn) to buy out Vodafone’s stake, and suspect that this management team would not enjoy the responsibility of handing that cash (roughly the market cap of Telefonica) back to shareholders, or reinvesting it in telcoland.