19th Sep 2005 07:02
Vodafone Group Plc19 September 2005 19 September 2005 VODAFONE ANALYST AND INVESTOR DAY Vodafone Group Plc ("Vodafone") is hosting today an analyst and investor day atits headquarters in Newbury, England. The day will principally consist of a series of presentations by seniormanagement from Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and the UK giving an overview ofeach of these businesses. There will also be a focus on the Other VodafoneSubsidiaries and separate presentations on the following areas: Opportunitiesfor Growth, Technology and One Vodafone. Arun Sarin, Chief Executive of Vodafone, will introduce the day's events byreiterating guidance for the current financial year as outlined at the Company'spreliminary results announcement in May 2005. He will also emphasise the coremessages running through the day's presentations; * The Group is clearly focused on revenue growth opportunities * 3G is gaining increasing traction in the market * The implementation of One Vodafone is progressing well * Strong execution by the local management teams Vodafone will report that the number of 3G devices has risen to approximately4.35 million at 31 August 2005, comprising 3.95 million consumer devices and400,000 Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G/GPRS data cards. The Christmas Vodafone live!with 3G handset range, announced on 16 September 2005, promises to furtherincrease the rising rate of 3G adoption across Vodafone's businesses. Vodafone will also say that Vodafone Passport - the first step in the VodafoneTravel Promise initiative - has successfully launched in 12 countries and hasalready attracted over 2 million customers. Initial feedback highlights highlevels of customer satisfaction, which has resulted in increased demand withinthe expanding roaming customer base. In addition, Vodafone will announce the Group's deployment of HSDPA, beginningwith friendly user tests and pre-commercial launches in the first half of 2006.A full commercial launch with end-to-end capabilities can be expected formid-2006. This new technology will boost current 3G user download speeds byapproximately 4 times. This enhancement of Vodafone's network will continue toimprove customers' experience of converged mobile services; and from aninvestment perspective, the upgrade will be incremental as it requires no newinfrastructure. The event will be broadcast live via a webcast available on the Vodafone website(www.vodafone.com/investor) beginning at 10.00am (UK time). All presentationsand related materials will be made available through the webcast. - ends- For further information: Vodafone Group Investor RelationsTel: +44 (0) 1635 664447 Media RelationsTel: +44 (0) 1635 664444 Vodafone, Vodafone live!, Vodafone Mobile Connect and Vodafone Passport aretrademarks of the Vodafone Group. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect toVodafone's reiteration of the guidance for its expectations for the year ending31 March 2006 as to future performance, including turnover, cash flows, costs,capital expenditures and margins, non-voice services and their revenuecontribution; share purchases; free cash flow, global integration, userpenetration for both data and non data services and the benefits of the new andrecently introduced services; the rate of 3G adoption as a result of theChristmas Vodafone live! with 3G handset range; and the deployment andcommercial launch of HSDPA; improvements of the customer experience as a resultof network enhancements, including the related customer benefits and serviceofferings in connection with the evolution of the network and demand for suchservices; and the manner of implementing the network upgrade. The statements aresubject to risks and uncertainties because they relate to future events. Some ofthe factors which may cause actual results to differ from these forward lookingstatements are discussed in the written materials that accompany thepresentations for the investor day referred to in this release and others can befound by referring to the information contained under the headings "CautionaryStatement Regarding Forward Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in our AnnualReport for the year ended 31 March 2005. The written materials accompanying theinvestor day presentation and our Annual Report can be found on our website. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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