Vodafone 2006 Annual Report Download - page 18

16 Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2006
Business Overview
continued
Vodafone has continued to develop the Vodafone live! proposition by offering a new
range of services, content, handsets and tariffs. The design of the Vodafone live! portal,
through which customers can access a range of online services – including games,
ringtones, news, sports and information – is being continually enhanced to provide
richer content and to make it easier for customers to find and purchase content.
The important ringtones market has continued to develop with mass market adoption of
‘real-tones’ where customers are able to purchase samples of real music recordings as
ringtones from artists signed to labels including EMI, Sony BMG Music Entertainment,
Universal Music and Warner Music.
Tariff structures have been updated, with a range of messaging and content based
bundles now available to customers. These have delivered improved customer value,
particularly when offered in conjunction with a handset purchase. In addition, browsing
charges for accessing the mobile internet have been simplified in many markets, making
it more attractive for customers to browse the web using their mobile phones.
23 new 2.5G phones have been added to the Vodafone live! portfolio in the 2006
financial year, with an increased emphasis on exclusive and customised devices. The
new handsets have offered improved camera capabilities, better connectivity, with a
significant proportion of devices now offering ‘Bluetooth’ (a wireless link function), and
increased memory card storage to enable customers to save content on their devices.
Throughout the 2006 financial year, Vodafone has continued to develop standards in
the areas of terminals, platforms, games, digital rights management and MMS. These
initiatives are expected to lead to increased speed to market and better services for
customers.
Vodafone live! with 3G
In November 2004, the Group launched Vodafone live! with 3G across 13 markets, with
an initial portfolio of 10 devices. Vodafone live! with 3G is now available in 10 controlled
markets, two joint venture markets, three associated company markets and three
Partner Markets. At 31 March 2006, there were 7.1 million devices registered on the
controlled and jointly controlled networks capable of accessing the Vodafone live! with
3G portal, and the portfolio of Vodafone live! with 3G devices had expanded to 35. 17
new 3G phones have been added to the portfolio during the 2006 financial year.
An enhanced mobile experience gives Vodafone live! with 3G customers access to a
range of high quality content and communication services. Vodafone live! with 3G
customers can now experience news broadcasts, sports highlights, music videos, movie
trailers and other video content at a quality approaching that of digital television.
Vodafone continues to work with leading content partners, including HBO, Eurosport,
MTV, UEFA Champions League, Fox and Discovery, to enhance the mobile TV and film
content offering. The wide bandwidth of 3G supports access to sophisticated 3D games
and the portfolio of mobile games is continually expanding.
The 3G service also supports full track music downloads which allow customers to use
their phone to listen to music, choosing from a range that currently includes more than
600,000 music tracks. Vodafone has secured music from some of the world’s greatest
artists through agreements with EMI, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music,
Warner Music and other independent record labels. Using the 3G service, customers can
also download live performance videos and stream clips direct to their mobiles.
In the coming year, Vodafone will continue to enhance the music offering with the
introduction of Vodafone Radio DJ, a personalised, interactive radio service streamed to
both 3G phones and PCs. Customers will have access to hundreds of thousands of tracks
and will be able to personalise radio channels to their taste. This service will be offered
on a monthly subscription, giving unlimited listening time, and is due for release in more
than 20 countries over the next year.
In February 2006, a deal was signed with Google giving Vodafone customers access to
the Google search engine via the Vodafone live! portal. The addition of the Google
search engine (to be available from October 2006) will help customers access content
more easily both on-portal and on the wider ‘mobile internet’. The agreement also sees
the introduction of a new advertising based revenue stream to Vodafone live! by
incorporating relevant sponsored links within customer search results. The partnership
provides a future framework for other innovative collaborations between Vodafone and
Google, bringing new opportunities to further expand consumer offerings by
incorporating other existing Google products.
Content standards
Vodafone has continued to provide a leadership role in content standards with the
launch of a global access control programme and an off-net filter. The access control
programme demonstrates Vodafone’s commitment to deliver content responsibly and
provides the capability for parents to restrict access to content that may be
inappropriate for younger users. Ensuring that the mobile needs of parents and their
children are satisfied will remain a priority during the 2007 financial year.
As new media channels evolve, a number of Vodafone initiatives are designed to ensure
protection for our customers from inappropriate content, contact and commercialism.
These include providing supporting guidelines around the marketing of content to
customers, signing up to the codes of practice on spam content and the development
of editorial guidelines to provide more robust parental controls.
Vodafone Mobile Connect data cards
First launched in April 2003, the Vodafone Mobile Connect data card provides simple and
secure access to existing business information systems such as email, corporate
applications, company intranets and the internet for customers on the move. Access
speeds vary depending on which technology the data card is using but typically ranges
from 384 kbps when connected to a 3G network up to 1.2 Mbps when connected to a
network enabled with HSDPA technology. The Vodafone Mobile Connect with 3G
broadband data card, which utilises HSDPA technology, has been launched in five
markets, with other markets to follow during the 2007 financial year.
The Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G/GPRS data card has now been rolled out across 11
controlled markets, two joint venture markets, three associated companies markets and
ten Partner Markets. Vodafone Mobile Connect data cards are available in an increasing
number of distribution channels.
During the 2006 financial year, Vodafone announced the launch of built-in 3G
broadband connectivity with Acer, Dell and Lenovo notebooks. The roll out of the
notebooks will further enhance the choices available to Vodafone customers for high
speed mobile working.
The product portfolio was enhanced during the financial year with the launch of an EV-
DO data card allowing customers to connect with Verizon Wireless’ high speed data
network whilst travelling in the US. In addition, Vodafone also launched a 3G router in
conjunction with Cisco and Linksys, which enables mobile connectivity for groups of
employees.
At 31 March 2006, there were 0.7 million registered Vodafone Mobile Connect data
cards in the Group’s controlled and jointly controlled markets.
Vodafone Wireless Office
Vodafone Wireless Office offers companies the opportunity to reduce the number of
fixed desk phones they have and facilitates the move of voice minutes from the fixed to
the mobile network through a solution that includes elements that can match or better
fixed line call costs, desk phone functionality and user experience. A closed user group
tariff, allowing employees to call each other for a flat monthly fee, is a key part of the
offer. Another optional element allows a customer to control their mobile phone from
their PC or laptop.
At 31 March 2006, Vodafone Wireless Office was available in 14 markets and had over
1.5 million customers.
Other business services
Beyond the wireless enablement of notebook computers, there is an increasing demand
for handheld solutions that allow real-time access to email, calendar, contact and other
applications. During 2004, Vodafone launched its BlackBerry®from Vodafone
proposition, which is now available in 11 controlled markets, two joint venture markets,
three associated company markets and nine Partner Markets.
There were 0.4 million BlackBerry from Vodafone customers on the Group’s controlled
and jointly controlled networks as at 31 March 2006.
On 21 April 2005, the Group announced the roll out of Vodafone Push email, a service
providing real-time, secure and remote access to email, contacts and calendar direct to a
range of business-focused mobile devices. The service has been rolled out in six
controlled markets, one joint venture market, two associated company markets and two
Partner Markets. At 31 March 2006, the service was supported by ten global devices and
a varied number of local devices in the controlled markets.
Roaming services
When travelling abroad roaming allows mobile phone users to make and receive calls
using another mobile network in the visited country. The Group continued to expand its
roaming coverage and services during the 2006 financial year. The focus of the year,
however, was to provide reduced, clearer and easier to understand prices to our
customers under the Vodafone Travel Promise roaming campaign launched in
May 2005.
On 8 May 2006, the Group announced that average European roaming costs for
Vodafone customers will be cut by at least 40% by April 2007, when compared to the
period from June to August 2005. This is expected to benefit over 30 million Vodafone
customers who roam every year, and will see the average cost of roaming in Europe fall
from over 90 eurocents per minute to less than 55 eurocents per minute. The average