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.

Reuter's take

LONDON | Tue May 21, 2013 7:24am BST
(Reuters) - Vodafone posted its largest ever quarterly fall in key organic service revenue on Tuesday, prompting it to keep hold of a dividend from its U.S. arm and reinvest it into the business and not return it to shareholders.

The world's second largest mobile operator, at the centre of intense speculation as to whether it will sell its U.S. arm in one of the world's largest deals, posted a 4.2 percent fall in organic service revenue, in line with forecasts.

That however marked a further acceleration from the 2.6 percent fall in the third quarter and reflected the tough economic conditions in its core European markets and the regulatory cuts which hit a peak in the three months to the end of March.

Liberum Capital Buy 197.85 210.00 210.00 Reiterates

Espirito Santo Execution Noble Buy 197.85 200.00 200.00 Reiterates

Another view that sums it up.

Vodafone denies shareholders Verizon dividend

"But herein lies the dilemma - Verizon Wireless was the one bright spot in the results. Pre-tax profits from Verizon Wireless jumped 30.5% year-on-year to £6.4 billion. Selling the stake could mean that Vodafone will not have a contingency plan to fall back on."

Vodafone says comfortable with Verizon Wireless status quo

LONDON | Tue May 21, 2013 1:02pm BST
(Reuters) - Vodafone said on Tuesday that it was very comfortable with its successful U.S. joint venture Verizon Wireless, but if an offer materialized that would benefit it more than the status quo, it would consider it.

Vodafone's partner Verizon Communications has made little secret of its desire to buy out Vodafone in a multi-billion dollar deal that would be one of the largest of all time.

Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao told journalists at a briefing that if an offer came in that was more advantageous than the current joint venture situation, the company would consider it.

£2 a leap too far.

How much in the current price is takeover related I wonder.

There in lies the rub - I'm probably going to hold for now.

Not in myself but interested to see how things pan out, By the way how do you manage to put that cross out line in?

With a fine black pen and very steady hand! :-)

Stan, use the del tag.

del tag? mine just deletes words -): what am I doing wrong, I am on a Mac so are we talking different keyboards?

.

Frustrating the wait and progress....

JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight 199.70 199.90 225.00 225.00 Reiterates

Citigroup Buy 199.70 199.90 215.00 215.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Hold 199.70 199.90 216.00 216.00 Reiterates

Goldman Sachs Buy 199.70 199.90 230.00 - Reiterates

Exane BNP Paribas Underperform 0.00 199.90 - 185.00 Reiterates

Well someone is going to be wrong ... so much for being bloody experts , just professional rampers/derampers imo.

Lets hope its the French :-)

Espirito Santo Execution Noble Buy 197.00 200.00 220.00 Reiterates

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Buy 195.00 215.00 220.00 Reiterates

Exane BNP Paribas Underperform 195.00 185.00 193.00 Reiterates

WITHDRAWAL FROM MYANMAR TELECOMS LICENCE PROCESS

VODAFONE & CHINA MOBILE WITHDRAW FROM MYANMAR TELECOMS LICENCE PROCESS


Vodafone Group Plc ("Vodafone") and China Mobile Limited ("China Mobile") today announce their decision to withdraw from the process to award two telecommunications licences in Myanmar.

The Vodafone-China Mobile consortium was amongst twelve short-listed applicants due to submit their final bid to the Myanmar authorities on 3 June. Following the publication of the final licence conditions on 20 May, the Vodafone-China Mobile consortium has reached the decision not to proceed with the process as the opportunity does not meet the strict internal investment criteria to which both Vodafone and China Mobile adhere.

Vodafone and China Mobile will continue to watch Myanmar's progress with interest and will give due consideration to any future opportunities that would meet the companies' investment criteria.

- ends -