|
Vodafone is a multinational mobile phone operator with headquarters in Newbury, Berkshire, United Kingdom.
Vodafone made the UK's first mobile call at a few minutes past midnight on 1985-01-01. Vodafone UK made its first 3G voice call, on the
16 April 2001.
Vodafone stands for VOice-DAta-FONE.
Vodafone has 120 million, primarily GSM, subscribers in 28 countries. Until 2002 it was the largest mobile phone company in the world; however, it is now the world's second largest
after China Mobile.
In the United States, Vodafone owns 44% of Verizon Wireless, the country's largest mobile carrier. However, the phone
company Verizon owns a majority of Verizon Wireless and Vodafone's branding is not
used, nor is the network compatible with GSM phones.
In the year 2000, Vodafone took over German mobile network operator Mannesmann Mobilfunk GmBH & Co KG. The deal still is
one of the largest in European history.
In 2001 Vodafone took over Eircell in
Ireland and rebranded it Vodafone Ireland.
On October 1st 2003 Vodafone's Japanese unit J-Phone dropped its brandname in
favor of the globally recognized 'Vodafone'.
Vodafone's logo can be seen on the jerseys of Manchester
United players, thanks to its high-profile sponsorship of the soccer team. The logo
can also be seen sponsoring the England cricket team, the Ferrari F1 team, the Australian Wallabies rugby union team, DTM German touring cars and the Vodafone Oaks
and Vodafone Derby horse races at Epsom.
The logo shows the outline of a SIM-card, a rounded rectangle with one corner cut back.
The brand color is a bright red, used with white.
External link
|