Vodafone


Vodafone Group Public Limited Company is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania.
, Vodafone owns and operates networks in 15 countries, with partner networks in 46 further countries.
Vodafone has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The company has a secondary listing on the NASDAQ as American depositary receipts.

Name

The name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones".

History

Racal Telecom: 1980 to 1991

In 1980, Ernest Harrison, then chairman of Racal Electronics Plc – the UK's largest manufacturer of military radios – negotiated a deal with Lord Weinstock of the UK General Electric Company, which gave Racal access to some of GEC's battlefield radio technology. Harrison directed the head of Racal's military radio division, Gerry Whent, to explore the use of that technology for civilian purposes. Whent visited a mobile radio factory run by the US company General Electric in Virginia, that same year. In 1981, the Racal Strategic Radio Ltd subsidiary was established.
Jan Stenbeck, head of a growing Swedish conglomerate, set up an American company, 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 the Government of the United Kingdom about foreign ownership, the terms were revised, and in December 1982 the Racal-Millicom partnership was awarded the second UK mobile phone network licence. 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 Business and Trade, "the bid submitted by Racal-Millicom Ltd … provided the best prospect for early national coverage by cellular radio."
Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985 under the new name of Racal-Vodafone Ltd, with its first office based in the Courtyard in Newbury, Berkshire, and shortly thereafter Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunications Group Limited. The first non-Vodafone employee to make a UK mobile phone call was comedian Ernie Wise, from St Katharine Docks, London on 1 January 1985. On 29 December 1986, Racal Electronics issued shares to the minority shareholders of Vodafone worth £110 million, and Vodafone became a fully owned brand of Racal.
On 26 October 1988, Racal Telecom, majority held by Racal Electronics, went public on the London Stock Exchange with 20% of its stock floated. The successful flotation led to a situation where Racal's stake in Racal Telecom Plc was valued more than the whole of Racal Electronics.

Vodafone Group: 1991 to 1999

Due to stock market pressure, to realise full value for shareholders, on 16 September 1991, Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal Electronics as Vodafone Group Plc, with Gerry Whent as its CEO.
In July 1996, Vodafone acquired the two-thirds of Talkland it did not already own for £30.6 million. On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased Peoples Phone, a 181-store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly using Vodafone's network, for £77 million. In a similar move the company acquired the 80% that it did not already own of Astec Communications, a service provider with 21 stores.
In January 1997, Whent retired and Chris Gent took over as CEO. In the same year, Vodafone introduced its Speechmark logo, composed of a quotation mark in a circle, with the Os in the Vodafone logotype representing opening and closing quotation marks and suggesting conversation.

Vodafone AirTouch: 1999 to 2000

On 29 June 1999, Vodafone completed its purchase of American service provider AirTouch and changed its name to Vodafone AirTouch Plc. The merged company commenced trading on 30 June 1999. The acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share of Mannesmann, owner of the largest German mobile network. To gain antitrust approval for the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in Mannesmann's German competitor, E-Plus.
On 21 September 1999, Vodafone agreed to merge its US wireless assets with those of Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon. The merger was completed on 4 April 2000, just a few months prior to Bell Atlantic's merger with GTE to form Verizon Communications.
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 of Orange, the UK mobile operator. Gent would later say Mannesmann's move into the UK broke a "gentleman's agreement" not to compete in each other's home territory. The hostile takeover provoked strong protests 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 £112 billion, then the largest corporate merger ever. The EU approved the merger in April 2000 after Vodafone agreed to divest the 'Orange' brand, which was acquired in May 2000 by France Télécom.

Vodafone Group: 2000 to present

On 28 July 2000, the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group Plc.
On 17 December 2001, Vodafone introduced the concept of "partner networks", by signing TDC Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involved the introduction of Vodafone international services to the local market, without the need of investment by Vodafone, extending 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.
Vodafone sponsored the Premier League team Manchester United F.C. from 2000 until the 2005–06 season. In 2007, Vodafone entered into a title sponsorship deal with the McLaren Formula One team, which traded as "Vodafone McLaren Mercedes" until the sponsorship ended at the end of the 2013 season.
On 1 December 2011, it acquired the Reading-based Bluefish Communications Ltd, an ICT consultancy company. The acquired operations formed the nucleus of a new Unified Communications and Collaboration practice within its subsidiary Vodafone Global Enterprise, which was to focus on implementing strategies in cloud computing, and strengthen its professional services offering.
In April 2012, Vodafone announced an agreement to acquire Cable & Wireless Worldwide for £1.04 billion. The acquisition gave Vodafone access to CWW's fibre network for businesses, enabling it to offer unified communications to enterprises. On 18 June 2012, Cable & Wireless shareholders voted in favour of the Vodafone offer.
On 2 September 2013, Vodafone announced it would be selling its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications for $US130 billion. With the proceeds from the deal, it announced a £19 billion Project Spring initiative to improve network quality in Europe and emerging markets, such as India.
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.
In January 2020, Vodafone confirmed that it has pulled out of Diem Association, the governing council for the Facebook-created global digital currency initiative.
In December 2022, Nick Read stepped down as Vodafone CEO, after overseeing a 40% share price fall during his four year tenure.
In June 2023, it was announced that Vodafone UK would merge with Three UK; Vodafone would own 51% of the combined company, and CK Hutchison Holdings 49%. Once approved by regulators, the merger created a group with 27 million mobile customers. On 3 July 2024, Vodafone and Virgin Media O2 announced they would extend their network-sharing deal into the mid-2030s, including a spectrum shift to aid Vodafone's $19 billion merger with Three UK, which faced a Competition and Markets Authority investigation. The deal, involved selling some of its combined 59% of the best 5G spectrum to Virgin Media O2, to address regulatory concerns about reducing mobile networks from four to three in Britain. Vodafone pledged a £11 billion investment in 5G if the merger was approved, asserting the merger would strengthen competition. In November 2024, the CMA provisionally concluded that the Vodafone and Three Merger could go ahead, if both companies made price promises for consumers and committed to boosting the UK's 5G rollout.
In June 2024, Vodafone Group sold an 18% stake in Indian company Indus Towers, raising $1.82 billion to reduce its debt. Initially planning to sell a 10% stake, strong investor demand led Vodafone to nearly double the sale. Bharti Airtel increased its stake in Indus to about 49% by purchasing around 1% of the shares. The sale generated 153 billion rupees and reduced Vodafone's stake in Indus from 21.5% to 3.1%.
In November 2024, Vodafone Group announced plans to sell its remaining 3.1% stake in Indus Towers to Bharti Airtel for approximately $166 million. The sale was part of Vodafone's ongoing strategy to simplify its portfolio and focus on core markets. The transaction was expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of the 2024 fiscal year, subject to regulatory approvals. In January 2025, it was announced that the remaining shares had been sold.
In December 2024, the Competition and Markets Authority approved the merger of Vodafone UK and Three UK, forming the country's largest mobile network. Despite concerns about potential price increases, the CMA's approval was conditional on significant investments in 5G infrastructure and legally binding commitments to improve services. These included capping mobile tariffs and offering set contractual terms to mobile virtual network operators for three years. The CMA and Ofcom will oversee the implementation of these commitments, ensuring consumer protections are maintained.