More Countries For Vodafone Passport

[andy]

I only just noticed this on Vodafone UK, after seeing on another forum that it had been revamped

http://www.abroad.vodafone.co.uk/index.cfm...me=a2&nu=1&le=2

They seem to have added Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Slovakia, and maybe also Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Poland (I can't be bothered to check an old list right now)

I'm slightly surprised on a couple of points about Sweden - Telenor bought the Vodafone network several months ago and it has been rebranded there, and I thought that Telenor in Norway was included in Passport as well just after that. *edit - the link to the Passport page on the Telenor Sweden site seems to be broken

[Effendi]

It seems that Telenor Sweden is the only Telenor network included in Vodafone Passport. Telenor Norway, Serbia, Hungary (Pannon), Montenegro, Ukraine (Kyivstar) and the others out of Europe are all out of Voda Passport.

Anyway, for Vodafone Italy it's still:

Zone 1
- Belgium: Proximus (recently sold by Vodafone)
- France: SFR
- Germany: Vodafone
- Great Britain: Vodafone
- Greece: Vodafone
- Ireland: Vodafone
- Liechtenstein: Swisscom
- Netherlands: Vodafone
- Portugal: Vodafone
- Spain: Vodafone
- Sweden: Telenor Sverige AB (recently sold by Vodafone)
- Switzerland: Swisscom

Zone 2:
- Albania: Vodafone
- Australia: Vodafone
- Czech Rep.: Vodafone
- Hungary: Vodafone
- Malta: Vodafone
- Romania: Vodafone

Zone 3:
- Fiji: Vodafone
- Giappone: Vodafone KK (recently sold by Vodafone)
- New Zealand: Vodafone

[MATHA531]

Andy....

Are there vodafone companies in those countries...when first conceived vodafone required you to roam on a vodafone network....it seems they have now opened it up to favored network providers in just about all of the European countries perhaps to compete with O2's 35p rate or perhaps to try to fend off eu intervention.

Some interesting ones on the list including Australia and New Zealand (we all know united mobile does not have a roaming partner in New Zealand) and also Japan (despite the fact Vodafone has sold Vodafone Japan...but you will need a different phone in Japan) and no Norway.

[andy]

Originally Posted by MATHA531

Andy....

Are there vodafone companies in those countries...when first conceived vodafone required you to roam on a vodafone network....it seems they have now opened it up to favored network providers in just about all of the European countries perhaps to compete with O2's 35p rate or perhaps to try to fend off eu intervention...

I think you're right about the original list, though some were not obviously Vodafone, like Proximus in Belgium, which they owned 25% of, and a share of Swisscom mobile. Edit - you've corrected me on another thread about Proximus (now sold)

They have other alliances; I've browsed a bit on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobil...twork_operators

and found that for example TDC (Denmark) owns Bite, and Mobilkom owns the Slovenian network Si.mobil, and "Elisa [ex Radiolinja] works together in co-operation with Vodafone."

It certainly does look like a pan-EU motivation of some kind. The biggest hint of this might be the inclusion of T-mobile Slovakia - why do a deal with your rivals?
And if T-mobile can agree to this in one country, why not decide to do it themselves on their own networks?

[Motel75]

That is weird, but perhaps it's a harbinger of TMO and Voda ganging up on Telefonica and Orange. OTOH, there has long been talk of Slovakia creating another GSM network just so Vodafone could have it. Who knows.

[andy]

I don't think they are ganging up. There is a choice of only T-mobile and Orange there, so whichever they chose would imply how much they want to cover the whole EU.

Now if Orange and T-mobile would just consider competing with Passport, then wonder what to do in a country where they had no network, like T-mobile in Spain or Orange in Czech Republic, then pretty soon (or already!) the question arises that if they can co-operate to cut roaming costs in some places, then why not anywhere?

[meir]

Just quick reply on 3rd network in Slovakia. The tender was won by Telefonica O2. So no Vodafone there. Also I believe that Vodafone has a lot of problems around the world. And it is just question of time when someone will make real takeover bid. Until now directors of Vodafone are buying time by selling their less profitable networks and giving money to from sales to shareholders and loan/bond holders.

[Motel75]

Yes, Vodafone have done really badly under Arun Sarin. There are a number of reasons for this, but Vodafone used to have a huge psychological edge (everyone knew they were BIG, had no debts, and were about to take over Verizon, Vivendi, BT, and who knows what else), and had they bought AT&T Wireless this might have continued; however since then a lot of investment funds have whined about wanting cash handouts, forcing them to sell off Japan (which took years to take control of) at a loss, and its (admittedly money-losing) Swedish division to a major competitor. Next up is its share in Verizon Wireless; if it sells this and throws the proceeds away in a special dividend, it will indeed become prey, either for Verizon or AT&T as a ready-made Rest of World division, or to state-backed TMO, Telefonica, or Orange, just to get rid of their main competitor (to see what that would mean, take a look at France's cozy, noncompetitive market). A sad story, indeed, and a warning sign of what happens if you pay too much heed to accountants.

[maccoy]

Originally Posted by Motel75

(to see what that would mean, take a look at France's cozy, noncompetitive market)

What happens or happened in the french market you are talking about?

[Motel75]

What happens or happened in the french market you are talking about?

A lot of analysts think the French market is so dominated by France Telecom that it just isn't really very competitive, which has led in turn to mobile telephony being less popular than elsewhere. The penetration rate in France is lower than in other European countries, the use of SMS is significantly lower, prices are higher (and getting a prepaid card is expensive and relatively difficult), and MVNOs are only now making any impact. While these things are changing, they are also changing more slowly than in other countries. Broadly speaking, Orange is a not very innovative state-controlled champion, and SFR and Bouyges don't want to rock the boat. A more competitive situation provided by a fourth network, and perhaps a foreign-owned network in the market, might increase the size of the market while bringing prices down and adding services.

In some ways, the French market is similar to that of the USA (low penetration rate, low prepaid market share, low adoption of SMS, etc.), although the reasons for this there are a little different (mix of technical standards, lack of caller-pays system, poor advertising, focus on business customers).

(FWIW, I realize there is a "cultural differences" argument, too, but I don't believe it; if anything, the French are more like the mobile-loving Italians in temperament than, say, the often technophobic Germans, but guess who sends far more text messages )