Tim's VodaFone News Page.

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12/08/06 Hello all!

Yes I'm still here :-) Life has been very busy for me, Hence why my page hasn't seen any change for a long time. Hopefully next year I may have more time to re-vamp it. Tim.

23/04/05 New discussion group now online!

I think I finally have it all going. Click here :-)

(You can still use the main link on my page as well)

20/04/05 Web site improvement news

Hello All,

As some of you many have noticed there has been allot of work put in (by myself and a few friends) on improving and updating my web site. Work is being done on getting more people on board to write there own news articles and reviews. (If anyone is interested in this.. Please contact me. Full credit will be give to the author).

A newer and better discussion group to replace the old text version, (Yes I know it has been a long wait ;-), Is currently in development and I hope will be released soon. I'm still testing it to make sure it all works.

Thanks, Tim.

20/03/05 Interesting newspaper article

The cap fits for Vodafone
Michael Sainsbury, The Australian
MARCH 18, 2005

VODAFONE Australia has stormed past the 3 million customer mark, after a four-month surge in which its capped monthly call plans have seized the imagination of the mobile phone market.Vodafone is poised to reach 3.1 million customers with more than 200,000 new subscribers for the March quarter, numbers which sources said had thrown internal forecasts at rivals Telstra and Optus into disarray. Vodafone chief Grahame Maher would not confirm the numbers, but said: "We are really happy with what is happening in the market. A number of things have come together which we have been working on for the past few years." Mr Maher confirmed that Vodafone's numbers each month this quarter had been as good as its December numbers - traditionally the year's best month. Vodafone would use its return to growth after three years of cost-cutting and restructuring to re-enter the business mobiles market, Mr Maher said. After a better than expected Christmas quarter Telstra was posting more modest numbers over the past two months, Telstra insiders said. Industry watchers said that Optus, which had started to see a sharp slowdown in its revenue growth, was also "struggling". Last Friday, Telstra chief executive Ziggy Switkowski was cautious about the outlook for this quarter. "At the time of the half we said don't just extrapolate the trend," Dr Switkowski said. "The year-on-year comparisons will be weaker." Unlike its biggest competitors, Optus and AAPT, Telstra only releases top-line revenue numbers for the March and September quarters. Mr Maher said Vodafone was also experimenting with direct sales through a door-knocking campaign in some cities, but stressed that while SIM cards were being given away they were not added to the Vodafone customer base until users topped them up. More than 80 per cent of Vodafone's new users have come from Telstra and Optus, with Optus numbers just edging its bigger competitor. Virgin Mobile chief Jonathan Marchbank said that capped calls had also been paying off for the Richard Branson outfit. "There is a market for handset repayments and capped plans, particularly at the lower end of the market," Mr Marchbank said. "Sales have been very strong. Most people want a better handset on a lower plan. The quid quo pro is that they want a capped plan with it too." Industry newcomer Hutchison is understood to have remained relatively unaffected by the Vodafone surge.

The Australian

26/08/04 More Interesting news on 3G

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,10573528%5E15346%5E%5Enbv%5E15306%2D15320,00.html

Vodafone, Optus to share on 3G
Staff writers

MIRRORING moves by mobile rivals Telstra and Hutchison, Vodafone and Optus will band together to share network sites and radio infrastructure for their forthcoming third generation mobile networks.

The formal agreement between the two is expected to be completed in October, subject to regulatory approval.
Vodafone had indicated for some time that it intended to partner with another carrier in order to build its 3G network, but until the joint announcement with Optus had not revealed details of any of its discussions. Both carriers had previously announced Nokia as the network equipment vendor for their third generation mobile network rollouts.

"The radio access network represents about two-thirds of the total capital cost of a 3G network, so to be able to share this cost with another company is beneficial," Optus Mobile managing director Allen Lew said.

While agreeing to share infrastructure, Vodafone and Optus will offer separate customer services, promising to "compete vigorously" for business.

The network-sharing announcement comes three weeks after Telstra said it would pay Hutchison $450 million for a half share in its 3G radio access network, forming a joint venture that would also fund future network development.

Both Optus and Vodafone said they would draw on the experience of their international parent companies in building the network.

"We have always been a strong advocate of 3G network partnering," acting Vodafone Australia chief executive Russell Hewitt said. "By bringing together two extremely talented teams, we will be able to share resources so that we can roll out faster and deliver efficiencies to out business."

21/04/04 Interesting News

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8966538%5e15320%5e%5enbv%5e15306,00.html

Vodafone attacks post pay market with the launch of new Talk & TXT bundle
for red SIM

http://www.vodafone.com.au/docs/txt_talk_bundle.pdf

Vodafone Australia is once again challenging the norm and attacking the cost of land lines with the launch today of an aggressive new post pay bundle for red SIM called Talk & TXT.

The Talk & TXT bundle includes all call types in the monthly credit, giving customers the combination of great value call and TXT rates, as well as the ability to change their monthly spend, all with no lock-in contract.

It also includes 20c Vodafone to Vodafone calls within Australia (with generous call caps). Depending on the minimum monthly spend level, customers can also get TXT for as low as 14 cents and standard call rates at 20c per
minute to any network or landline, at any time (plus 20c call connection fee).

According to Ian Scherger, Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone Australia, the big differentiator between the Vodafone Talk & TXT bundle and anything else on the market is the real choice and value it provides to customers.

"Unlike some mobile operators, with Talk & TXT all call types are included in the monthly credit, so standard TXT, PXT, international calls and GPRS don't get piled on top. This way our customers are really clear about what
they are paying for and won't get a nasty surprise at the end of the month.

"We are giving our customers the benefits of post pay with the freedom of pre pay, putting them in control and giving them the choice. We're so confident that customers will love our great value bundle that we don't need
to lock them in to long term contracts, lure them with short term promotional offers, or free phones.

Ian continued, "This is just the start and we look forward to adding a whole lot more over the coming months. We will continue to be responsive to the needs of new and existing customers and compete aggressively with fixed line
services by bringing down the cost of mobile."

Talk & TXT is immediately available to credit-approved customers through the Vodafone call centre on 1300 650 410 or in any Vodafone stores or channel partners.
-ends-

Notes to editor:-
[in part]

Monthly
spend / Rate p/min / Flagfall / TXT / 20c V2V calls per month
$20 |         60c |             20c |      25c |     20 min
$30 |         40c |             20c |      22c |     100 min
$50 |         30c |             20c |      20c |     200 min
$70 |         26c |             20c |      18c |     300 min
$100 |       24c |             20c |      16c |     450 min
$150 |       22c |             20c |      15c |     700 min
$200 |       20c |             20c |      14c |     1000 min

12/04/04 More info on Voda's 3G plans

I hope Voda decided to spend some money on there 2G/2.5G network! There is still allot of work to done ;-) Most people still want to use a phone just to make and receive calls. 3G is not going to change this. There are allot of areas were Optus and Telstra have both rolled out new towers / coverage. Voda was meant to do the same... But have not. There are still quite a few towers that are half built... and have been sitting that way for many years. It is a worry.... :-(

Tim

Vodafone's 3G decision nears
Damian May (C) AAP

VODAFONE Australia will choose a vendor to roll out its 3G network in the next four weeks and is still committed to having it up and running by the middle of next year.

Australia and New Zealand are in phase II of Vodafone's third-generation mobile roll out while its long-awaited European 3G services are expected to launch in October of this year.
"Vodafone is currently in the final stages of selecting a vendor for our 3G roll out in both Australia and New Zealand and expect to be able to make an announcement in the next four weeks," Vodafone Australia chief executive Grahame Maher said.

Vodafone's existing network supplier Ericsson is a possibility for the contract, while Nokia and Siemens/NEC have also been mentioned. "Our plans are still firmly in place to launch our 3G service to customers by mid 2005," Mr Maher said.

3G is the generic name for a set of mobile technologies that enable users simultaneous voice and data services, high-speed internet access, high quality video telephony and CD-quality music services.

"Our future investment in 3G will become evident this year as we introduce new 3G services in Europe for both business and consumer customers," Mr Maher said. The introduction of 3G technology to its customers is expected to be "seamless" and Vodafone fully intends that it will help achieve the aim of boosting its current customer base from 2.67 million to 3.4 million by the end of next year.

"In Australia, we have the benefit of being able to learn from these (European) launches and will be able to ensure we will offer our customers a seamless experience which is consistent with what they have come to expect from Vodafone," said Mr Maher. Third generation mobile telephony will offer users services such as video, faster internet access and networked games.

"With 3G Vodafone will be able to drive more mobile minutes, deliver high quality content and entertainment, and enable greater productivity by mobilising business," Mr Maher said. Vodafone's consumer 3G service is expected to enhance the Vodafone live! offering which recently launched its latest camera phone in Australia, the Sharp GX10.

"This is a huge step forward for multi-media communications in Australia and means camera phones are finally on a level with digital cameras in terms of quality and ease of use," marketing manager Graham Christie said. As well as its live! products, 3G will also benefit customers of its Mobile Connect service which connects PCs to the internet, currently over the GPRS network. Hutchison was the first to market 3G services in Australia and has spent a whopping $3 billion on the rollout. 3G will offer greatly improved connection speeds.

AAP

05/04/04 Interesting article.. Small snippet

http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9179105%255E2765,00.html

Vodafone Australia said it did not retain the content of any phone calls, text or picture messages. It said it kept records only of the time, length and destination of calls and messages, to assist with customer billing.

02/04/04 More news.....

I personally think Mr Maher needs to look a bit closer at the Vodafone AU group. There are so many areas were Voda has fallen behind even Optus.... If Voda really want to run a network in AU.. then they need to wake up and do it..  Not just stand around and do nothing. I don't think you need to look very hard to see what I am saying ;-)

Tim

Vodafone Australia grows customer base

By James Pearce, ZDNet Australia (c)

29 January 2004

UPDATE-- Vodafone Australia has reported growth in raw customer numbers in its latest quarterly figures, released last night on the London stock exchange, but the news is not all good.

The number of Vodafone mobile customers rose from 2,627,000 in September 2003 to 2,676,000 in December 2003. The percentage of pre-paid customers rose from 53 to 55 percent over that period, and the percentage of active customers fell from 92 to 90 percent over that time.

According to the figures, Vodafone Australia's active customer base fell from 2,416,840 in September to 2,408,400 in December. Grahame Maher, Vodafone Australia's chief executive officer, told ZDNet Australia the fall was as a result of two things. The first was customers who received a prepaid phone for Xmas in 2002 and were now using other plans, and the second was visitors to Australia who purchased a pre-paid mobile phone during the World Cup.

There was more bad news in the results for the carrier in average revenue per user (ARPU).

The ARPU annualised 12 month rolling fell from AU$587 to AU$579 over the quarter. Although ARPU for contract customers rose from AU$879 to AU$897, but ARPU for pre-paid users – the majority of Vodafone's customers – fell from AU$286 to AU$280. Maher said the fall in ARPU was a result of the increase in inactive users, and customers who were active were very active.

Maher emphasised the growth in customer numbers.

"Once again we've seen a steady increase in our customer numbers this quarter, but most importantly this is profitable growth and not just numbers for numbers' sake," said Maher in a statement. "We had a great Christmas with Vodafone red SIM and Vodafone live! exceeding our expectations both in customer numbers and recharge values."

"We're committed to changing the Australian mobile market by giving customers great value, choice and total control. Over the next few months we will be continuing to explore ways to rewrite the rules and give customers exactly what they want," said Maher.

01/04/04 Old but good news on Voda's 3G network