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Products and Services

Vodafone offers voice, messaging, data and fixed broadband services through multiple solutions and supporting technologies to deliver on its total communications strategy. The advancements in 3G networks and download speeds, handset capabilities and the mobilisation of internet services, have contributed to an acceleration of data services usage growth.
Analysis of Group service revenue
%
image showing two pie charts, the left for 2007 Group revenue, the right for 2008
1 Voice – 75%
2 Messaging – 12%
3 Data – 7%
4 Fixed line – 6%
1 Voice – 77%
2 Messaging – 12%
3 Data – 5%
4 Fixed line – 6%

Group service revenue is still predominantly generated by voice services, though these services as a percentage of revenue are slowly declining as price competition and regulatory pressures increase in many markets and the contribution of data grows. At the forefront of the Group’s total communications strategy are initiatives targeted at providing propositions to customers that replace traditional fixed line providers, as well as developing new and innovative ways for customers to enjoy the benefits of mobility, with the aim to increase the proportion of Group service revenue that is generated by data and fixed line services.

So that customers can utilise the services that Vodafone offers, many different tariffs and propositions are available, targeted at different customer segments and adapted for any localised customer preferences and needs. These propositions often bundle together voice, data, messaging and, increasingly, fixed services so that customers can experience all the different services that Vodafone has to offer. Typically, customers are classified either as prepay or contract customers. Prepay customers pay in advance and are generally not bound to minimum contractual commitments, while contract customers usually sign up for a predetermined length of time and are invoiced for their services, typically on a monthly basis.

As different tariffs and propositions are launched, the Group is increasingly leveraging the positive experiences in one market to provide initiatives across the Group. Offers with strong customer appeal and commercial benefit are being quickly adapted and rolled out to other markets. An example includes a range of “Out of Credit” solutions for prepay customers, through which Vodafone provides temporary credit to a customer which is then repaid when the customer next tops-up. Reverse charging capabilities have also been introduced across most markets. These facilities are very popular with prepay customers and have been launched in most European markets.

The experience gained in the Group’s more mature markets is also being used to develop more sophisticated offers across the emerging markets, many of which have a very high percentage of prepay customers, and Vodafone is leveraging established bonus and reward prepay pricing mechanisms, which incentivise higher usage and spend at an individual customer level.

The Group is also growing usage and account penetration in the business segment. Vodafone Global Enterprise (“VGE”) provides over 140 of Vodafone’s largest multinational customers with consistent levels of service, support and commercial terms worldwide, by taking specific responsibility for managing these multinational customers.

Over the last year, VGE launched a number of new products and services, including, in July 2007, the launch of Vodafone Applications Service, a service hosted by Vodafone and available in ten countries, enabling companies to mobilise applications such as SAP®, Siebel and Salesforce.com to a choice of mobile devices. VGE has also developed a globally consistent pricing structure for global business customers and has launched a new voice roaming tariff that can be used for both domestic and international voice usage that is available across five European markets. A data roaming package has also been developed that is simple, predictable, capped and available across ten European markets.

Having traditionally been a key player in the provision of corporate and small and medium enterprises (“SME”) voice solutions in many markets, Vodafone is increasingly offering tailored and innovative solutions for small business and professional business customers. Many of these offers use the capabilities already developed for larger companies and provide benefits such as virtual private network services and Vodafone Wireless Office solutions to much smaller entities.

Summary of Group products and services at 31 March 2008

      Number of markets available
  Europe EMAPA Partner
markets
Number of
customers(1)
Vodafone at Home 8 3 4.4 million
Vodafone Wireless Office 9 5 3.0 million
Vodafone Passport 11 3 3 17.5 million
Vodafone live! – Internet on your mobile 9 2.0 million
Vodafone Mobile Connect data card or
Vodafone Mobile Connect USB modem
11 8 25 2.7 million
Note:
(1) Customers are presented on a controlled (fully consolidated) and jointly controlled (proportionately consolidated) basis in accordance with the Group’s current segments.