Vodafone GroupĀ PlcĀ (/ĖvoŹdÉfoŹn/) is a British multinationalĀ telecommunications company. ItsĀ registered officeĀ andĀ global headquartersĀ are inĀ Newbury, Berkshire,Ā England.[2]Ā It predominantly operatesĀ servicesĀ in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania.As of November 2020, Vodafone owns and operates networks in 22 countries, with partner networks in 48 further countries.[3]Ā ItsĀ Vodafone Global Enterprise division provides telecommunicationsĀ andĀ IT servicesĀ to corporate clients in 150 countries.[4]Vodafone has a primary listing on theĀ London Stock ExchangeĀ and is a constituent of theĀ FTSE 100 Index. The company has a secondary listing onĀ Nasdaq.
The name Vodafone comes fromĀ VOiceĀ DAtaĀ FONEĀ (the latter aĀ sensational spellingĀ of “phone”), chosen by the company to “reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones”.[5]
History[edit]
The evolution of Vodafone started in 1981 with the establishment of the Racal Strategic Radio Ltd subsidiary ofĀ Racal Electronics, the UK’s largest maker of military radio technology, which formed a joint venture withĀ MillicomĀ called ‘Racal’, which evolved into the present Vodafone.[6][7][8]
In 1980,Ā Ernest Harrison, the then chairman of Racal Electronics, agreed to a deal withĀ Lord WeinstockĀ of theĀ General Electric CompanyĀ to allow Racal to access some of GEC’s tactical battlefield radio technology. The head of Racal’s military radio division,Ā Gerry Whent, was briefed by Ernest Harrison to drive the company into commercial mobile radio. Whent visited a mobile radio factory run byĀ General ElectricĀ (unrelated to GEC) inĀ Virginia, USA, the same year to understand the commercial use of military radio technology.[9]
Jan Stenbeck, head of a growing Swedish conglomerate, set up an American company,Ā Millicom Inc, and approached Gerry Whent in July 1982 about bidding jointly for the UK’s second cellular radio licence. The two struck a deal giving Racal 60% of the new company, Racal-Millicom Ltd, and Millicom 40%. Due to concerns of theĀ British governmentĀ about foreign ownership, the terms were revised, and in December 1982, the Racal-Millicom partnership was awarded the second UK mobile phone network licence.[10]Ā Final ownership of Racal-Millicom Ltd was 80% Racal, with Millicom holding 15% plus royalties, and the venture firm Hambros Technology Trust holding 5%. According to the UK Secretary of State for Industry, “the bid submitted by Racal-Millicom Ltd ā¦ provided the best prospect for early national coverage by cellular radio.”[11]
Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985 under the new name, Racal-Vodafone (Holdings) Ltd,[12]Ā with its first office based in the Courtyard inĀ Newbury, Berkshire, and[13]Ā shortly thereafter Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunications Group Limited.[14]Ā On 29 December 1986, Racal Electronics issued shares to the minority shareholders of Vodafone worth GBĀ£110Ā million, and Vodafone became a fully owned brand of Racal.[15]
On 26 October 1988, Racal Telecom, majority held by Racal Electronics, went public on theĀ London Stock ExchangeĀ with 20% of its stock floated. The successful flotation led to a situation where Racal’s stake in Racal Telecom was valued more than the whole of Racal Electronics. Under stock market pressure to realise full value for shareholders, Racal demerged Racal Telecom in 1991.[16][17]
Vodafone Group, then Vodafone Airtouch: 1991 to 2000[edit]
On 16 September 1991, Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal Electronics asĀ Vodafone Group, with Gerry Whent as its CEO.[18]
In July 1996, Vodafone acquired the two-thirds of Talkland it did not already own for Ā£30.6Ā million.[19]Ā On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased for Ā£77Ā millionĀ Peoples Phone, a 181-store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly using Vodafone’s network.[20]Ā In a similar move the company acquired the 80% that it did not already own of Astec Communications, a service provider with 21 stores.[21]
In January 1997, Whent retired andĀ Chris GentĀ took over as CEO.[22]Ā In the same year, Vodafone introduced itsĀ SpeechmarkĀ logo, composed of aĀ quotation markĀ in a circle, with the Os in the Vodafone logotype representing opening and closing quotation marks and suggesting conversation.[23]
On 29 June 1999, Vodafone completed its purchase of American service providerĀ AirTouch Communications, Inc.Ā and changed its name toĀ Vodafone Airtouch plc. The merged company commenced trading on 30 June 1999.[24]Ā The acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share ofĀ Mannesmann, owner of the largest German mobile network.[25]Ā To gain antitrust approval for the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in Mannesmann’s German competitor,Ā E-Plus Mobilfunk.[26]
On 21 September 1999, Vodafone agreed to merge its US wireless assets with those ofĀ Bell Atlantic CorpĀ to formĀ Verizon Wireless.[27]Ā The merger was completed on 4 April 2000, just a few months prior toĀ Bell Atlantic’sĀ merger withĀ GTEĀ to formĀ Verizon Communications, Inc.[28]
In November 1999, Vodafone made an unsolicited bid for Mannesmann, which was rejected. Vodafone’s interest in Mannesmann had been increased by the latter’s purchase ofĀ Orange, the UK mobile operator.[29]Ā Gent would later say Mannesmann’s move into the UK broke a “gentleman’s agreement” not to compete in each other’s home territory.[30]Ā The hostile takeover provoked strong protest in Germany, and a “titanic struggle” which saw Mannesmann resist Vodafone’s efforts. However, on 3 February 2000, the Mannesmann board agreed to an increased offer of Ā£112Ā billion, then the largest corporate merger ever.[30]Ā TheĀ EUĀ approved the merger in April 2000 after Vodafone agreed to divest the ‘Orange’ brand, which was acquired in May 2000 byĀ France TĆ©lĆ©com.[31]
Vodafone Group plc: 2000 to present[edit]
The headquarters ofĀ Vodafone RomaniaĀ in Bucharest
On 28 July 2000, the Company reverted to its former name,Ā Vodafone Group plc.[32]
On 17 December 2001, Vodafone introduced the concept of “Partner Networks”, by signingĀ TDCĀ Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involved the introduction of Vodafone international services to the local market, without the need of investment by Vodafone. The concept would be used to extend the Vodafone brand and services into markets where it did not have stakes in local operators. Vodafone services would be marketed under the dual-brand scheme, where the Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local brand. (i.e., TDC Mobil-Vodafone etc.)[33]
In 2007, Vodafone entered into a title sponsorship deal with theĀ McLarenĀ Formula One team, which traded as “Vodafone McLaren Mercedes” until the sponsorship ended at the end of the 2013 season.[34][35]
On 1 December 2011, it acquired theĀ Reading-based Bluefish Communications Ltd, anĀ ICTĀ consultancy company.[36]Ā The acquired operations formed the nucleus of a new Unified Communications and Collaboration practice within its subsidiaryĀ Vodafone Global Enterprise,[36]Ā which was to focus on implementing strategies inĀ cloud computing, and strengthen itsĀ professional servicesĀ offering.[36]
In April 2012, Vodafone announced an agreement to acquireĀ Cable & Wireless WorldwideĀ (CWW) for Ā£1.04 billion.[37]Ā The acquisition gave Vodafone access to CWW’sĀ fibre networkĀ for businesses, enabling it to offerĀ unified communicationsĀ to enterprises. On 18 June 2012, Cable & Wireless’ shareholders voted in favour of the Vodafone offer.[38][39]
On 2 September 2013, Vodafone announced it would be selling its 45% stake inĀ Verizon WirelessĀ toĀ Verizon CommunicationsĀ for $US130 billion.[40]Ā With the proceeds from the deal, it announced a Ā£19 billion Project Spring initiative to improve network quality in Europe and emerging markets, such asĀ India.[41][42]
In June 2017, the company took measures to prevent its advertising from appearing within outlets focused on creating and sharing hate speech and fake news.[43]
In January 2020, Vodafone confirmed that it has pulled out ofĀ Diem AssociationĀ (known as Libra Association at the time), the governing council for theĀ Facebook-created global digital currency initiative.[44]
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