Launch of GPRS Roaming
Vodafone Group PLC
25 March 2002
25 March 2002
VODAFONE LAUNCHES FIRST COMMERCIAL EUROPEAN GPRS ROAMING SERVICE
Vodafone Group Plc ('Vodafone') today announces it is the first mobile operator
to offer commercial GPRS roaming across Europe. Vodafone customers in 12
countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, The
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK will be able to
access their Vodafone services over GPRS in a growing number of destinations
when travelling in Europe. Vodafone intends to progressively expand GPRS
roaming to cover other networks, including all remaining European Vodafone
operators and partner networks by the end of the year.
Vodafone customers will be able to seamlessly access services such as corporate
e-mail, intranet and personalised information on their mobile phones, lap tops
or PDAs over GPRS. Customers will experience the same Vodafone 'look and feel'
and will receive the same consistent levels of Vodafone service performance and
security which they experience on their home Vodafone networks.
Ease of use is the key to Vodafone's GPRS roaming service. Vodafone customers
travelling abroad access their GPRS services in exactly the same way as they do
at home. There is no requirement for customers to input additional service
access codes to use their services. An inherent characteristic of all Vodafone
global services is that they are easy to use wherever you are and by accessing
their services over GPRS, customers will benefit from faster download speeds and
'always on', mobile connectivity.
Vodafone customers will be billed on a volume basis for accessing their data
services over GPRS whilst roaming in Europe. GPRS is a packet switched based
service, so customers only pay for the amount of data they download and send,
rather than the amount of time they spend accessing their services.
Thomas Geitner, Chief Executive, Global Products and Services, Vodafone, said:
'Vodafone customers are the first to benefit from fast and easy access to their
data services across a large part of Europe. Our travelling customers will now
be able to access their data services as easily as they do at home. This means
greater productivity and ease of use for our customers and the ability to stay
in touch with colleagues, friends and family whilst travelling.
'Our ability to deliver commercial GPRS roaming in Europe through the Vodafone
footprint will unlock our corporate customers' requirement for access to data
services whilst travelling, which will generate new data roaming revenue.'
- ends -
For further information:
Vodafone Group Plc
Tim Brown, Group Corporate Affairs Director
Melissa Stimpson, Head of Group Investor Relations
Bobby Leach, Head of Group Financial Media Relations
Darren Jones, Senior Investor Relations Manager
Jon Earl, Senior Group Communications Manager
Janine Young, Group Communications Manager
Tel: +44 (0) 1635 673310
Tavistock Communications
Lulu Bridges / John West
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7600 2288
Notes to Editors
The following list details current GPRS roaming arrangements across Vodafone's
European operators and partners. Increasing numbers of GPRS roaming
arrangements will be signed over the coming months, opening up more destinations
for Vodafone customers to use GPRS services when travelling.
Proximus (Belgium): Vodafone Netherlands, Vodafone Spain and Vodafone UK -
roaming-in service
SFR (France): Omnitel Vodafone (Italy), Vodafone Netherlands, Vodafone Portugal
and Vodafone UK
Vodafone Germany: Vodafone Ireland, Vodafone Portugal, Vodafone Spain, Swisscom
Mobile (Switzerland) and Vodafone UK
Vodafone Greece: Vodafone Netherlands, Vodafone Spain and Vodafone UK -
roaming-in service
Vodafone Ireland: Vodafone Germany*, Vodafone Portugal, Vodafone Spain, Swisscom
Mobile (Switzerland) and Vodafone UK
Omnitel Vodafone (Italy): SFR (France), Vodafone Germany*, Vodafone Portugal,
Vodafone Spain, Swisscom Mobile (Switzerland) and Vodafone UK
Vodafone Netherlands: Proximus (Belgium), SFR (France), Vodafone Spain, and
Vodafone UK
Vodafone Portugal: SFR (France), Vodafone Germany*, Vodafone Ireland, Omnitel
Vodafone (Italy), Vodafone Spain, Swisscom Mobile (Switzerland) and Vodafone UK
Vodafone Spain: Proximus (Belgium), Vodafone Germany*, Vodafone Greece, Vodafone
Ireland, Omnitel Vodafone (Italy), Vodafone Netherlands, Vodafone Portugal,
Swisscom Mobile (Switzerland) and Vodafone UK
Europolitan Vodafone (Sweden) service launches 31 March 2002 with: Vodafone
Germany*, Omnitel Vodafone (Italy) and Vodafone UK
Swisscom Mobile (Switzerland): Vodafone Germany*, Vodafone Ireland, Omnitel
Vodafone (Italy), Vodafone Spain and Vodafone UK
Vodafone UK service launches 2 April 2002 with: Proximus (Belgium), SFR
(France), Vodafone Germany*, Vodafone Greece, Vodafone Ireland, Omnitel Vodafone
(Italy), Vodafone Netherlands, Vodafone Portugal, Vodafone Spain and Swisscom
Mobile (Switzerland)
* GPRS roaming in Germany (Vodafone Germany) will not be available
nationwide until the end of April 2002. At launch, services will be available
in the following regions:
• Ruhrgebiet - including Dusseldorf, Koln and Essen
• Rhein-Area - Bonn Mainz
• Rhein-Main - including Frankfurt and Wiesbaden.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange