Vodafone on the right lines
VODAFONE chief executive Sir Christopher Gent eased investors' fears on Thursday, supporting forecasts that new mobile phones services will generate around a quarter of sales by 2004.
Internet and data services from mobile handsets contributed about 9.1% of Vodafone's sales for the year to September - up from 8.6% in the year to June.
'The increase in our data indicators confirms we are on track to meet our data revenue targets,' he said.
There has been concern over demand for new services, especially since Vodafone and other mobile phone giants spent more than £80bn buying licences to operate the new high-speed networks. Since June, its customer base has increased by 2.5m to 96m.
France Telecom's mobile arm Orange beat market expectations with a 24% increase in third- quarter sales to £2.5bn. Its customer base grew 1.6m to 37.1m.
