Launch of 3G

Vodafone Group Plc
10 November 2004


10 November 2004

                     GLOBAL LAUNCH OF VODAFONE LIVE! WITH 3G

Vodafone today announces the global launch of Vodafone live! with 3G across an
unrivalled 13 countries. Vodafone live! with 3G will be available in Austria,
France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

• Extensive range of 10 new 3G handsets offering a wide choice for customers
    o   Seven Vodafone exclusive handsets
    o   Europe's first 2 mega pixel camera phone - Sharp 902
• Enhanced portal design for even easier access
• Exciting new services including video calling, full track music downloads and
  3D games
• Broader range of new and improved content, including:
    o   Extensive music catalogue from world's greatest artists
    o   New made-for-mobile drama inspired by the blockbuster TV series '24'
    o   Exclusive videos, pictures, animated greetings and wallpaper
    o   Launch of 'Movie of the Month' starting with 'Bridget Jones: 
        The Edge of Reason'
    o   UEFA Champions League and Barclays Premiership video clips
    o   Exclusive Manchester United and Ferrari mobile video content
    o   Exciting new, exclusive games from world's leading games publishers
• New approach to pricing offering even greater value to Vodafone customers
    o   Event based pricing model for content purchases

Following the success of the Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G data card and the
introduction of initial 3G consumer services across eight European markets, the
launch of Vodafone live! with 3G is the next significant step in Vodafone's 3G
strategy.

Launched in October 2002, Vodafone live! was the first mobile service to
integrate handsets, networks, content and services to produce an end to end,
easy to use customer proposition. Vodafone live! with 3G is the next generation
of Vodafone's multi-media consumer offering. The customer experience is
transformed by faster download speeds and improved quality of sound and images,
encouraging increasing adoption and usage of Vodafone's services.

Vodafone has also created a new, easy to understand pricing model. This model is
designed to ensure customers receive simpler bills and to encourage usage
through increased cost transparency. Content purchases will be charged on an
event basis and browsing will be free or included in a highly attractive bundle
of services. Customers will also be offered promotional bundles to promote the
uptake of new Vodafone services. 3G voice propositions will offer more value for
money to customers, with each Vodafone operating company offering market
specific pricing plans.

Arun Sarin, Chief Executive, Vodafone, said:

'Today is an important day for Vodafone and the start of a new era in mobile
communications.

'Vodafone live! with 3G will dramatically change the way our customers
experience their Vodafone services and we are confident that Vodafone live! with
3G will be a success. Customers want communication, organisation, entertainment
and information on the move and they will increasingly turn to one device to
deliver these needs - their mobile phone.

'Vodafone live! with 3G will become increasingly mass market next year and we
expect over 10 million customers to be using Vodafone live! with 3G by March
2006 in our subsidiaries.

'Vodafone live! with 3G provides Vodafone with a new platform for profitable
growth. We are leaders in the evolution of mobile communications and we will
continue to be at the forefront of innovation to the benefit of our customers
and shareholders.'

Further detail on Vodafone live! with 3G
The service proposition has several key, integrated elements:

Handsets
Vodafone will offer an initial, extensive range of 10 new 3G handsets for the
Christmas period from Sharp, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, NEC, Nokia and Samsung.
Seven of the handsets are exclusive to Vodafone and the range has been designed
to offer a wide customer choice of high, mid and low tier priced 3G devices.
Seven handsets from this range will be available in Japan, with nine available
in Europe.

Individual Vodafone operating companies have selected the most appropriate
handsets for their local customer needs from this range.

The handsets have been designed in close collaboration with Vodafone's
manufacturing partners to ensure easy to use service delivery with the now
improved Vodafone live! portal.

Enhanced handset features now include:
• Better imaging capabilities: Europe's first 2 mega pixel camera phone
• Improved audio: stereo speakers, full track music download
• Expandable memory storage: 32MB provided as standard

Portal
Based on extensive customer feedback, the Vodafone live! with 3G portal has been
significantly improved. Vodafone has made it even easier for customers to access
services, enabling Vodafone live! with 3G to meet their needs quickly and
intuitively. Customers can access the services that are important to them with
fewer clicks and faster navigation.

The portal now offers faster downloads of services and topical content which is
updated at least on a daily basis. Promotions will sit at the top of the page to
provide customers with the latest offers and most up to date information. An
initial number of Vodafone markets will also offer a dynamic portal, which
automatically configures customers' favourite content to the top of their home
page, meaning they can get to the services they want faster. This function will
be deployed across an increasing number of Vodafone markets in due course.

Services and Content
Vodafone live! with 3G delivers new services to customers including video
calling, full track music download, 3D games and mobile TV. Current Vodafone
live! services and content have been improved through better quality sound,
pictures and video, including services such as video and picture messaging.

Video Calling
Video calling enables Vodafone customers to see and hear one another when making
a call. With several handsets in the initial 3G range, Vodafone live! with 3G
customers will be able to flip the camera view of the handset to allow the
person they are calling to see what they are seeing.

Picture and Video Messaging
Picture messaging has been improved, with better quality pictures which can be
sent to friends, family or colleagues direct to camera phones, e-mail or the
Web.

Customers can now take higher quality video messages due to the better camera
resolutions of Vodafone live! with 3G handsets. The increased memory
capabilities of Vodafone live! with 3G handsets allows customers to store more
video and picture messages than ever before on their mobile phones.

Full Track Music Download
Music is a core offering of Vodafone live! with 3G. Customers can download full
track music downloads to their handset and listen to near CD quality full music
tracks, rather than small bursts of music through realtones or ring tones.

Thousands of full track music downloads from some of the world's greatest
artists have been secured through an extension of Vodafone's existing deal with
Sony BMG Music Entertainment, as well as new agreements for music from the
catalogues of EMI and Warner Music. An exciting selection of master recording
ring tones ('realtones') is also available from artists signed to EMI, Sony BMG
Music Entertainment and Universal Mobile.

Customers will be able to download live performance videos from their favourite
bands and stream award-winning programming clips like 'Cribs' and 'Dirty
Sanchez' direct to their mobiles through Vodafone's multi-territory agreement
with MTV.

3D Games
Vodafone live! with 3G takes mobile games to the next level with its VFX games
engine. Not only will the catalogue of Vodafone favourites be more accessible
than ever before, but the larger download capabilities of Vodafone's 3G network
will offer even better graphics, sound and depth to its games content, providing
customers with a much better games experience.

The additional bandwidth of 3G also paves the way for high quality 3D games and
Vodafone is introducing a range of branded titles at launch. These include a
world mobile exclusive of the console smash hit 'Crash Twinsanity' (Wonderphone/
Vivendi Universal Games), Sega's 'Super Real Tennis', stunning racing action
with 'Ferrari Experience 3D' and the downhill excitement of 'Extreme Air
Snowboarding' from Sumea/Digital Chocolate. Thrills of another kind are
available in Superscape's '3D Evel-ution', based on the world-renowned stuntman,
Evel Knievel. Another Sumea/Digital Chocolate produced Vodafone exclusive, and
making its debut on mobile, is the fun and compelling, 'Beach Minigolf'.

A selection of Vodafone live! with 3G launch handsets will feature embedded,
limited-play trials and trailers of the above titles enabling customers to 'try
before you buy'. The Vodafone live! with 3G portal will feature a full dynamic
listing of the games charts, ensuring customers always have easy access to the
most popular games.


Mobile TV
Customers in a number of countries will be able to catch up on their favourite
television programmes by downloading or streaming video clips straight to their
handsets. Customers will be able to view local and international sports, news,
financial markets and other information and entertainment from leading brands.

Mobisodes
With the signing of an exclusive deal with Twentieth Century Fox, Vodafone
customers will be the first to experience a new generation of made-for-mobile TV
and film content. For the first time, Vodafone customers will be able to go
beyond the award winning drama series, '24', with a unique series inspired by
the television blockbuster. Fans of '24' will be able to view twenty-four one
minute mobisodes of '24: Conspiracy', which tracks a parallel plot of specially
created characters inspired by the hit TV series.

Film
Each month, Vodafone live! with 3G will host a 'Movie of the Month', enabling
customers to view trailers and clips of the film, as well as to download
associated animated greetings, picture messages, wallpapers and ringtones. The
first 'Movie of the Month' is 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason' and will be
followed by the Walt Disney presentation of a Pixar Animation Studios film, 'The
Incredibles', and Twentieth Century Fox's 'Robots', among other titles.

News and Sport
Vodafone live! with 3G enables Vodafone to deliver breaking news directly to
customers through streamed video, video clips and picture bulletins. Bigger
video clips for longer news pieces can now be downloaded by customers from
leading news providers such as ITN in the UK, N24 in Germany, Rai News in Italy
and El Mundo in Spain.

Customers will also be able to download video highlights of the UEFA Champions'
League and a range of domestic leagues such as the Barclays Premier League,
Serie A and B, the Bundesliga and La Liga. Manchester United and Ferrari video
highlights and archive downloads will also be available.

Pricing
Vodafone has created new pricing which is designed to be simple to encourage
usage.

Vodafone live! with 3G customers will enjoy a new experience for buying content.
Browsing will be free or included in a highly attractive bundle of services.
Content purchases will now be charged on an event basis, rather than according
to volume. The result is one simple line on the bill for all content charges
relating to each download, enabling customers to easily track their purchases.
In all markets Vodafone will be offering promotional packages designed to
encourage adoption and trialling of new services.

The new pricing model will also offer customers more value for money for voice
services as Vodafone is able to benefit its customers from the additional
capacity that 3G brings to its networks.

Each Vodafone operating company will deliver pricing propositions tailored to
the local needs of its customers based on these broad principles.

Networks
Core to the delivery of Vodafone live! with 3G are Vodafone's 3G networks.
Vodafone has invested significantly to ensure its customers have 3G services of
the highest quality. Vodafone customers will have seamless handover of voice and
data services from 3G to 2G, ensuring high quality service delivery of Vodafone
live! with 3G.

Vodafone's strategy is to deploy 3G network coverage which delivers a high
quality service within defined data usage areas and then enhance this coverage
over time with carefully monitored customer demand and licence requirements.

Roaming
Vodafone's networks have been engineered to deliver a seamless voice, data and
video calling roaming environment for a truly mobile service. Customers
travelling within the 13 markets announced today will be able to use their
Vodafone live! with 3G services seamlessly.

                                     - ends-

For further information:

Vodafone Group

Investor Relations                       Media Relations
Melissa Stimpson                         Bobby Leach
Darren Jones                             Ben Padovan
                                         Jon Earl
Tel: [phone]                 Tel: [phone]

Tavistock Communications
Lulu Bridges

Tel: [phone]

Webcast
A webcast of the press conference being held today at 10.00am GMT for the Global
Launch of Vodafone live! with 3G is available at:
www.vodafone.com/3Glaunch

Photographs
High resolution 3G launch photographs of senior management are available to the
media free of charge at: www.newscast.co.uk

High resolution photographs of 3G handsets and associated images are available
at: www.vodafone.com/media

Broadcast Material
For broadcast-standard video for Vodafone visit www.thenewsmarket.com/vodafone
You can preview all materials online and receive broadcast-standard video in
MPEG2 format, or by tape. Registration and video is free and available for
accredited journalists and news producers.

For further information contact The NewsMarket on:
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7479 0650
Email: [e-mail]

Disclaimers
3G services and content are subject to 3G availability and handset availability.

VODAFONE, the Vodafone logos, Vodafone live! and Vodafone Mobile Connect are
trade marks of the Vodafone Group. Other products and company names mentioned
herein may be the trade marks of their respective owners.

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are subject to
risks and uncertainties because they relate to future events. Some of the facts
which may cause actual results to differ from these forward looking statements
are discussed in the written materials that accompany the presentations for the
Vodafone live! with 3G Global Launch Day referred to in this release and others
can be found by referring to the information contained under the headings
'Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements' and 'Risk Factors'
in our Annual Report & Accounts and Form 20-F for the year ended 31 March 2004.
The written materials that accompany the presentations for the Vodafone live!
with 3G Global Launch Day and our Annual Report & Accounts and Form 20-F can be
found on our website (www.vodafone.com).



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange