In America, they still call them cellphones. Over here, sell-phones would be more appropriate. The telecoms sector, in which Europe once had peerless leadership, has been a happy hunting ground for cash-rich Americans thanks to a mixture of tightening regulation from Brussels, technological wrong turns (think Nokia) and a soaring Dow.
Even though AT&T can’t move on Vodafone for six months, there is an air of inevitability that the company will face a bid at some stage — despite its size. Vittorio Colao talks of a “third chapter” for the mobile carrier. Having just become the toast of fund managers for his bumper return of cash from the Verizon joint venture, now he has half a year to make sure that chapter does not turn into an epilogue.
When bid speculation swirls, chief executives always talk about fiduciary duty. Regardless of price, the loss from the upper echelons of the FTSE of Vodafone, which still gives Britain global leadership in a fast-moving industry, would be a sad day indeed.
