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.

Adoption of new IFRS for year ending 31 March 2014

LONDON-- Telecommunications groups Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.LN) and China Mobile Ltd Thursday jointly announced that they have signed an agreement to form a consortium to bid for a mobile telecommunications licence in Myanmar. MAIN FACTS: -The two new licenses will authorize the licence holders to build, own and operate a mobile network on a nationwide basis for an initial term of 15 years. -The Vodafone-China Mobile pre-qualification application has been submitted to the Myanmar authorities in line with the submission deadline of April 4, 2013. -Further details of the proposed Vodafone-China Mobile consortium will be announced in due course. -Vodafone shares at 1006 GMT, up 1.1 pence, or 0.6%, at 187 pence valuing the company at GBP91.6 billion.

Good old yanks - Verizon: Sounding The Alarm On Dividend Safety

JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight 189.60 190.55 220.00 225.00 Reiterates

HSBC Overweight 0.00 189.90 205.00 230.00 Retains

Deutsche Bank Hold 0.00 189.90 173.00 180.00 Reiterates

Morgan Stanley Overweight 0.00 189.90 205.00 205.00 Retains

VODAFONE RED EXPANDED ACROSS 14 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES!

VODAFONE RED TO TRANSFORM CONSUMER AND BUSINESS EXPERIENCE OF MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS ACROSS 14 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES


Vodafone today announced the expansion of its Vodafone Red customer proposition to cover a total of 14 European markets, together with the addition of new and compelling customer options.

Vodafone Red offers European consumers and businesses one integrated service plan with:

· unlimited calls and text messages to any network in the customer's home country;
· very generous mobile data allowances; and
· world-class cloud and online protection services to back up and secure personal data available across Vodafone's leading-edge mobile networks.

In addition, by the end of 2013 Vodafone customers across all 14 European markets will benefit from further innovations, including:

· multi-device plans, enabling customers to connect a smartphone and tablet under one Vodafone Red plan, making it simple and cost effective to own and manage multiple devices under a single bill;
· family plans, allowing individual family members to sign up to a Vodafone Red package at a discounted price;
· a wider range of device choices, giving customers the freedom to have a new device included in the cost of their contract, receive a discount by choosing a 'nearly new' smartphone or choose to receive a new device every year for a small extra fee;
· industry-leading roaming plans for Vodafone Red customers travelling in Europe, giving them the freedom to make calls, send texts and use data worry-free, for an additional daily price of around €3;
· more safe and secure solutions, including world-class cloud and backup services and device insurance, giving customers peace of mind in the event of theft or damage for a small additional monthly fee; and
· the very best of the Vodafone network experience, including options to connect to new, ultra-fast 4G services where available.

With 14 countries on the same platform, Vodafone Red is Vodafone's largest multi-country marketing campaign for five years.

Vodafone Group Chief Commercial Officer Morten Lundal said: "Vodafone Red is the best of everything from Vodafone. It is what any smartphone or tablet owner would want. We know customers are looking for the freedom to communicate with confidence in order to help them with their increasingly complex mobile lives. Vodafone Red has been built from the ground up to meet the demanding needs of European consumers and businesses. We look forward to bringing Vodafone Red to all of our European customers in the coming weeks."

- ends -

10 year hi- like it

Not quite - 4 week/12 month+ high is 197.90p

That 2 quid ceiling proving a b*gger to get through again but when it goes we'll get a further 10% rise in days imo.

All depends on a Verizon deal now - it seems a matter of 'when' as opposed to 'if'.

Exclusive - Verizon eyes roughly $100 billion bid for Verizon Wireless stake

NEW YORK | Thu Apr 25, 2013 4:08am BST

(Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc has hired advisers to prepare a possible $100 billion (65 billion pounds) cash and stock bid to take full control of Verizon Wireless from joint venture partner Vodafone Group Plc, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Verizon, which already owns 55 percent of Verizon Wireless, has not yet put forward a proposal to Vodafone but it has hired both banking and legal advisers for a possible bid, the sources said.

Verizon hopes to start discussions with Vodafone soon for a friendly deal but is prepared to take a bid public if the British company does not engage in talks, one of the sources added.

There are no guarantees that Vodafone will be interested in a deal or that any bid will materialize, the sources said.

Deutsche Bank Hold 0.00 193.20 180.00 216.00 Reiterates

PLC Morgan Stanley Overweight 197.85 205.00 205.00 Retains

Espirito Santo Execution Noble Buy 197.85 200.00 200.00 Reiterates

A potential offer by Verizon (VZ) for Vodafone's stake in their US wireless joint venture would have to increase substantially to please the British telecom group's shareholders, according to Jefferies.

Jefferies said: "The glaring issue raised by last night’s [Reuters] article is of course price. $100bn is nowhere close to the level at which Vodafone can consider a deal, even assuming a minimal capital gains tax charge. The Sunday Times article on March 24th floated a valuation for the VZW stake of $135bn (and this before estimate upgrades that followed last week's VZ first-quarter results)."

"The valuation will need to climb much higher to create an outcome acceptable to VOD shareholders in our view."

No smoke without fire eh!

Multi year high just breached @197.95.

Analysis - Tax strategy may be key to Verizon Wireless deal

Mon Apr 29, 2013 6:21am BST

(Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc's chances of buying the 45-percent stake in Verizon Wireless owned by the UK's Vodafone Group Plc will hinge, at least in part, on the quality of tax advice it is getting.

Verizon, the No. 2 U.S. telecommunications company, may have found a way to structure a purchase of the stake so that Vodafone can avoid a multi-billion dollar U.S. capital gains tax bill, sources familiar with Verizon's plans said. The possibility of a huge tax bill has previously been regarded by analysts as a big hurdle to any such deal.

VODAFONE POWERS MAHINDRA REVA'S e2o CONNECTED CAR


· India'sfirst truly 'connected car' enabled by Vodafone M2M services
· First communications service provider to offer M2M platform in the Indian market

Vodafone has announced that Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles Pvt. Ltd., a part of the US $15.9 billion Mahindra Group, has powered its recently launched e2o electric vehicle - the first truly 'connected car' - with Vodafone's machine-to-machine (M2M) communication services.

President Pranab Mukherjee hits out at MNCs for their ‘intent to dodge tax’


NAGPUR: President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday slammed multinational companies saying they only looked for oversees locations with an intention to dodge taxes, raising eyebrows at a time when the country is desperately wooing foreign capital to plug a widening current account deficit.

Addressing a function at the National Academy of Direct Taxes (NADT), Mukherjee said more than three-fourths of business transactions nowadays took place through the units of MNCs. "Their basic objective is to locate a unit in countries where the rates of tax are the lowest. Many are not physically located in a country but operate with an objective to evade and avoid tax in the tax havens," Mukherjee said.

During his stint as finance minister, Mukherjee had scared MNCs to the sidelines after making retrospective changes in tax laws and unveiling the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) to fight tax evasion. Mukherjee, as finance minister, had linked the Vodafone tax issue to the government's fight against black money.

The Vodafone tax case had led to sharp division within the government. P Chidambaram, who took charge of the finance ministry last September, reversed a number of decisions taken by his predecessor, boosting investor confidence. The government put off implementation of GAAR and is weighing options on resolving the Rs 13,000 crore Vodafone tax issue.


More.........

Citigroup Buy 196.15p 215.00p 215.00p Reiteration

Espirito Santo Execution Buy 196.15p 200.00p 200.00p Reiteration

UBS Buy 196.15p 220.00p 230.00p Reiteration