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.

Doubt it. Charts are bollocks

Finals on the 17th.

They are making a mint.

Results same day as YELL bet their SP tanks.

.

charts are assuredly not bollocks even if not for any other reason than there are lots of peeps + computer programmes that follow them

Also Mr. C there are lots of savy investors who do not follow them and still make profit.

also true

most importantly in spite of VOD's massive ongoing share buyback program the sp is still falling, which must indicate choppy water ahead.

Nomura, one of a few brokers downgrading their forecasts:
"We pre-empt cautious margin guidance post weak sector results.
Consensus margin assumptions (flat for FY12) still need to moderate downwards and will lead to near-term EPS pressure. We now forecast margin contraction of 120bp for FY11 and 50bp for FY12. We cut FY12E EPS by 3%, post notably weak sector results and Italian MTR cuts last week. However, we think that this move is largely understood and that Vodafone still offers secure progressive growth in yield (at least 7%), with the potential for a substantial dividend uplift on VZW resolution. With Vodafone defending its patch better than in recent years, we believe that sentiment towards management will improve further. Moreover, in our view, at an in-line sector valuation (5.4x forward EBITDA), investors should build positions ahead of U.S. value crystallisation at year-end. Our DCF-based valuation target moves down 2% to 210p."

charts are rubbish if you follow them then we lose money . a share goes up on good results and good news and falls on the opposit . if you bought on charts in oil companys you would be broke . the only way to make money is follow the news and make your decision

take a look at the banking sector the charts are like the lady of the night

cynic back to work . my top tips for the next 8 months are barc . vod. tw

No YELL, HMV, DXNS, GAME

off subject why is david laws not going jail like the others .he is a thief stealing my taxes .

clegg on tv saying he is a very clever man . so why did he steal tax payers money .
he is no different than a benefit fraud

i quite like TW as well, as you will see from the thread about it .... despite the general housing market, i liked their re-aligned stance away from cheapo-cheapo and that they have benefitted from same ..... but you're welcome to VOD and BARC

for myself, i have held BLNX for quite a while now, but i suspect that still has plenty of mileage in it, and also hold WPP in that sector

others in my portfolio that i also like and expect to keep holding are AIE and AFR

cynic barc will hit 400p in next 8 months

My best porfolio share over the last 12 months is BLNX, with Booker a good second.

final div 7p

vod to annouce 60 percent rise in profits .