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 would have thought it's aimed at a younger generation who want to download films (movies) etc more quickly or have even faster access to twatter and faceache and the like.

Ah, that definitely rules me out then!

That makes 2 of us - you've seen my phone in post 326 above!

Enjoyed post 333 Skinney, very appropriate names. 4G obviously not for me either!

Goldman Sachs reiterates its Buy lowers TP from 227.00 to 224.00

Interesting article Vodafone UK chief prepares for 4G battle

If Guy Laurence, head of Vodafone’s UK business, is concerned about falling behind in the race to offer 4G phone services, he hides it well.

A reversal doji?

One of tankers favourites this one......has he worn himself silent??

RNS Number : 9271P

Vodafone Group Plc

31 October 2012

31 October 2012

VODAFONE COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF TELSTRACLEAR

Vodafone Group Plc today confirms that Vodafone New Zealand has completed the acquisition of TelstraClear Limited for a cash consideration of NZ$840 million (GBP429 million(1) ).

The transaction, which was announced on 12 July 2012, received final regulatory approval on 30 October 2012 and completed on 31 October 2012.

The acquisition strengthens Vodafone New Zealand's portfolio of fixed communications solutions and creates a leading total communications company in New Zealand.

- ends -

I've added a few here today,

Half-Year Results for six months ended 30 September 2012 on 13th November.

Ex dividend on the 19th November.

Yield 5.71%

12 month low is 164.20p

Ditto skinny I'm in @ 167.7 worth a punt.

yep, afew more for my SIPP. Should be the kiss of death!

Are you sure it's ex-divi on the 19th, Skinny? Also 19th is a monday.
No site yet showing date or amount, that I can find.

Investor Calendar

Harry VOD's site has record date as 21st so I just extrapolated that ex was the 19th.

On edit the site has 21st and 23rd as record date, so I guess ex date is Wed 21st!

Thanks. Ex-divi is actually wed 21st Nov. as shown on that page.
Strange that neither MAM nor Digitallook have the info yet on their sites.

Harry - as posted above, VOD site has 21st & 23rd as record date - hence my confusion.

No problem skinny. I wasn't trying to catch you out, just that the info isn't readily available on other sites, which seems strange for such a major player.

Britain sets the date for 4G spectrum auction

(Reuters) - Communications regulator Ofcom said it expected mobile operators to be able to provide faster, fourth-generation services from June next year as it set out its long-awaited plans for a spectrum auction.

Ofcom said prospective bidders would be able to submit their applications with an initial deposit from December 11, with bidding beginning in January and licences granted in February and March.

Ofcom said the reserve prices for the spectrum would be a combined total of 1.3 billion pounds.

Half Yearly Report

· H1 Group organic service revenue growth -0.4%*; N. Europe +1.5%*, S. Europe -9.8%*, AMAP +5.2%*

· Q2 Group organic service revenue growth -1.4%*; N. Europe +0.7%*, S. Europe -11.3%*, AMAP +4.1%*

· H1 EBITDA down -2.9%* to £6.6 billion; EBITDA margin down 1.0* percentage point

· Adjusted operating profit £6.2 billion, up 8.5%*; expected to be in the upper half of the guidance range for the full year

· Impairments totalling £5.9 billion for Spain and Italy as a result of challenging market conditions and changes to discount rates

· Free cash flow £2.2 billion; expected to be in the lower half of the guidance range for the full year

· Interim dividend per share of 3.27 pence, up 7.2%

· £2.4 billion dividend due from Verizon Wireless by the end of 2012; £1.5 billion buyback to commence after receipt

A nice little divi from Verizon!