Vodafone was formed in 1984 as a subsidiary of Racal Electronics Plc. Approximately 20% of the company's capital was offered to the public in October 1988. It became an independent company in September 1991, at which time it changed its name to Vodafone Group Plc.
It was agreed on the 4th February 2000 with the Supervisory Board of Mannesmann, that Mannesmann would become a part of Vodafone. This transaction almost doubles the size of the Vodafone Group.
2001- Eircell, Ireland's leading mobile communications company was acquired by Vodafone.
Vodafone and China Mobile (Hong Kong) ltd (CHMK) signed a 'strategic alliance agreement' and the group completed the acquisition of a 25% stake in Swisscom Mobile. The introduction of instant messaging to their networks, using text messages via SMS or WAP.
First Vodafone Partner Agreement with TDC Mobil A/S, Denmark's leading mobile operator. The agreement is the first of its kind in the mobile industry and means Vodafone and TDC Mobil will cooperate in developing, marketing and advertising international roaming products and services to international travellers and corporate customers.
2002 – Global mobile payment system in the UK, Italy and Germany was tested. The trial enables customers to purchase physical and digital goods using their mobile phone.
The beginning of the first commercial European GPRS roaming service. Customers can easily access services such as corporate e-mail, intranet and personalised information on their mobile phones, laptops or PDAs over GPRS.
In October, they announced the launch of Vodafone live!, a new consumer proposition, and Mobile Office, a new business proposition. In November, Vodafone Remote Access is launched as part of Mobile Office. The service gives business customers an easy way to connect to their corporate LAN to access e-mail, calendar and other business specific applications whilst on the move.
2003 - They won the mobile industry's most prestigious awards in two categories at the GSM Association Awards Ceremony in Cannes, France. Best Consumer Wireless Application or Service and Best Television or Broadcast Commercial for its global consumer service, Vodafone live! Their premium handset for Vodafone live!, the Sharp GX10, won the Best Wireless Handset Award for the Sharp Corporation.
2004 – Sees the launch of their first 3G service in Europe with Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G/GPRS data card. 4 Partner Networks with new agreements in Cyprus, Hong Kong and Luxembourg. Vodafone live! with 3G launched in 13 markets.
2005 - Completed the acquisition of MobiFon S.A. (Romania) and Oskar Mobile a.c. (Czech Republic).
May saw the launch of Vodafone Simply, a new easy-to-use service for customers who want to use voice and text services and the introduction of Vodafone Passport, a voice roaming price plan that provides customers with greater price clarity when using mobile voice services abroad.
2006 – Japan business sold to SoftBank. 3G broadband through HSDPA is launched offering faster than 3G speeds. ‘Make the most of now’ global marketing campaign . Launch of mobile TV capability and Vodafone Radio DJ, which offers a personalised, interactive radio service streamed to 3G phones and PCs. The number of Vodafone live! customers with 3G reached 10 million in March 2006. The acquisition of Telsim Mobil Telekomunikasyon Hizmetleri (Turkey. The sale of 25% stake in Belgium's Proximus. Sale of 25% stake in Switzerland's Swisscom.
2007 - A consortium led by Vodafone Group is awarded the second mobile phone licence in Qatar. Vodafone agrees to acquire Tele2 Italia SpA and Tele2 Telecommunication Services SLU from Tele2 AB Group.
Vodafone also announces the acquisition of Hutch Essar from Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited. Safaricom, Vodafone’s partner in Kenya announces the launch of M-PESA, an innovative new mobile payment solution that enabling customers to complete simple financial transactions by mobile phone.
Vodafone agrees to buy a controlling interest in Hutchison Essar Limited, a leading operator in the fast growing Indian mobile market and announces agreements with both Microsoft and Yahoo! to bring seamless Instant Messaging (IM) services to the mobile that can be accessed from both the PC and mobile handsets. Vodafone signs a series of ground-breaking agreements which will lead to the mobilising of the internet. YouTube agrees to offer Vodafone customers specially rendered YouTube pages on their mobile phones. With Google, Vodafone announces its intention to develop a location-based version of Google Maps.. With eBay, Vodafone announces it is to offer the new eBay mobile service to customers, With MySpace.com Vodafone announces an exclusive partnership to offer Vodafone customers a MySpace experience via their mobile phones. Vodafone reaches 200 million customers.
2008 - Vodafone acquires a 70% stake in Ghana Telecom for $900 million Vodafone launches the M-Paisa mobile money transfer service on Afghanistan's Roshan. Afghanistan is added to the Vodafone footprint.
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