Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

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Vodafone to offer mass market 3G mobile phones
Nancy Gohring
Friday, 16 September 2005

http://www.infoworld.nl/idgns/bericht.phtml?id=00256F6C005C22FC8025707E0032968D

Vodafone Group PLC will offer 15 new 3G (third generation) mobile phone handsets for the end-of-year shopping season. While the company had a similar "3G Christmas" campaign last year, analysts expect this one to be more successful.

Late last year, Vodafone rolled out some expensive and large phones that weren't particularly attractive across the market, said Ben Wood, a research vice president at Gartner Inc. "It was more about placating the investors," he said.

Mobile operators have come under pressure to offer a return on the investments they made in the licenses and network gear required to provide 3G services.

This year, however, marks a change for Vodafone.

"Vodafone have got serious about 3G now," Wood said. "They're using their size and purchasing power to put together the best portfolio of 3G phones and services."

Six of the new phones to be offered by Vodafone will be geared toward the entry level mass market. Ten of the 15 will be exclusive to Vodafone.

Most of the phones will be available across all of the Vodafone markets, though it will be up to the individual markets to decide on which devices they'll sell, a Vodafone spokesman said. Vodafone operates 3G services in the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Sweden and Germany, among other countries.

The new additions to Vodafone's handset line up may help it better compete in the 3G space, particularly with Hutchison 3G UK Ltd. Hutchison operates the network branded as 3 in the U.K., Ireland and other countries, and offers a low-price 3G service with a wide portfolio of services. As a result, the operator has become synonymous with 3G.

"The other network operators are starting to get their story together so they can take the fight back to Hutchison and try to take the mindshare on 3G back from them," Wood said. "The gloves are off. We're going to see aggressive competition for 3G."