In two decades, Vodafone became the telecommunications leader in Global Systems for Mobile networks (www.associatedcontent.com). Vodafone provides innovative and cutting edge telecommunications services on the largest wireless network on earth. In this article, I will discuss how Vodafone was started and the growth of one of the world's largest company.
Vodafone was formed in 1983 as a joint venture between Rascal Electronics (a UK electronic firm) and Millicom (a US telecom company), and was granted one of two mobile phone licenses in the UK (www.associatedcontent.com). That became the UK's first mobile license. The name Vodafone came from the firm's goal to establish a voice and data services over cellular telecommunication networks. In which, the VO is represents voice and the DA symbolizes data, hence Vodafone (www.associatedcontent.com). In 1985, Vodafone launched its service but as a Rascal subsidiary (www.vodafone.com).
October of 1987, Vodafone launched Vodapage. Which, is a paging network covering over 80% of the country (www.vodafone.com). In 1988, Rascal offered 20% of Vodafone to the public and would become Vodafone Group (www.associatedcontent.com). The beginning of the 1990s, Vodafone moves beyond the UK. In 1990, Vodafone customer base reaches 500,000 (www.vodafone.com). In October of 1992, Vodafone begins Commercial services. Vodafone was the first Portuguese company to offer a Customer Care Service available twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week (www.vodafone.com). Also, in 1992 Vodafone was named Company of the Year at Business Enterprise Awards (www.vodafone.com).
By 1993, Vodafone's international reach extends, with licenses and partnerships in Germany, South Africa, Fiji, Australia, and Greece (www.vodafone.com). Vodafone started networks for mobile phones in these other countries. Their strategy was to acquire competitors in order to knock out competition and become more competitive than its rivals (www.associatedcontent.com). March of 1994, Vodafone joins up with the Globalstar consortium to develop and launch low orbit satellite capability to supplement land-network coverage (www.vodafone.com). Also, in November of the same year Vodafone launches digital data fax and SMS (Short text messaging) service (www.vodafone.com).
In 1995, Vodafone kept expanding in the Netherlands, Uganda, Hong Kong, and France (www.vodafone.com). November 1997, Vodafone launch of their digital Pay As You Talk' pre-paid service for their frequent users (www.vodafone.com). In 1998, Vodafone is the first Portuguese mobile operator offering and introducing mobile phone in the market offering both bounds, 900 MHz and 1800 MHz (www.
In 1990s, ground-based wireless phone service grew rapidly around the world. A key factor in the growth of wireless phones was the adoption of a single standard, known as GSM, in Europe and parts of Asia. There were 480 million cellular subscribers worldwide by January 2000 and it reached more than billions before 2005. The economy of scale that introduced will provide the extent of competitive pressure in the business environment. It helps to stimulate Iridium to consider price-performance tradeoff that offered by the substitutes and the need of product differentiation alternatives in advance.
As the largest telecommunication company in the United States, Verizon sells the superiority of its network as the number one competitive advantage. However, over the course of a decade the telecommunication industry changed and having the best network was simply not enough to stay relevant. Telecommunication is an expensive business. “The financial challenges of keeping up with rapid technological change and depreciation can be monumental” (Investopedia, 2015). The Porter’s 5 Force Analysis of the telecommunication industry revealed that the availability of substitutions are high. This drives increase competition in the industry. Furthermore, deregulation has helped to increase new entrants.
Verizon Communications Inc. is one of the leaders in providing communication services around the world. Its primary offerings are wireless, wireline, and broadband communication resources to meet residential, business, and government needs. As a leader in its industry, how can Verizon continue to grow its business? What strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats impact the success of Verizon now and in the future?
Verizon Communications formed by the merger of two big and successful companies, Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp., is the largest telecommunication company. The company serves large part of the market in United States. However the company faces certain strengths and weaknesses which affect the way company formulate its strategies.
There are many telecommunication companies out in the world but a major one that is taking the world by storm is a company called America Movil; it was founded back in September 2000 by its owner Carlos Slim Helu as a side project for Telmex in Mexico City, Mexico, which is also its headquarters. (“America Movil”) America Movil helps provide services to 246 million cellphone and landline users in 18 different countries and provides31 million with landlines, employs about 200,000 workers, and is known as the fourth largest mobile network operator (americamovil.com), some of those countries where its services can be found are in Jamaica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Argentina, and many more. Not only do they provided telephone services but they also provide broadband and fixed line Internet, and digital television. As a side not America Movil provides television services to about 19 million subscribers, and broadband services to 19 million users as well. (Americamovil.com)
Americatel is positioned within the small to mid-sized market in the telecommunications sector. However, their primary competitors Movistar and Claro compete within the large-sized market. With only 10% overall market share, Americatel has the potential to capture additional growth as the industry growth rate is growing at 6%. To accomplish this we recommend that Americatel own their position in the small to mid-sized market by capitalizing on their competitive advantage of providing superior customer service as well as leveraging new solutions to further drive customer satisfaction.
Verizon Communications was created on June 30th, 2000 by Bell Atlantic Corporation and GTE Corporation in one of the largest mergers in U.S. business history. Now, Verizon is a global technology company that is delivering digital technology to millions of customers daily worldwide. The "Verizon" brand was launched on April 3rd, 2000 and operations as Verizon Wireless started on April 4th. In 2003, Verizon began trading on the New York Stock Exchange and trading on NASDAQ on March 10, 2010. In 2004, Verizon Communications was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Verizon has shown growth through acquisitions. The larger acquisitions were MCI Inc. in 2006, Alltel Corp. in 2009 and AOL Inc, in 2015 and these have made Verizon a leader in wireless technologies.
Verizon Communications Inc. is a worldwide broadband and telecommunication company based in Manhattan-New York, and one of the founders of Dow Jones Industrial Average. It was founded on 1983 as Bell Atlantic then it merged with GTE and became Verizon on 2000, they are now performing with power force of 180,000 dedicated employees around the globe achieving revenue of US$ 120.6 billion on 2013 with net income of $815 million with $137.29 billion capital [1]. Verizon is following AA1000 APS (2008) standard and ISO26000 principals.
Effective competition is widely seen as a key to the development of telecommunications services. The ability of new telecommunications networks to interconnect fairly and efficiently with existing networks is critical to the development of competition. AT&T has undergone numerous changes since its inception in the late 19th century. The McKinsey 7 S framework as applied by Pascale is recommended to manage the changes they are facing to adopt a greater competitive presence in the global economy. In conjunction with this framework, numerous other models were applied to analyse the global competitive position of AT&T. Recommendations for a revised strategy and direction for AT&T have been made throughout this document including two scenarios of how the telecommunications industry might develop towards 2000, while outlining the impact on AT&T.
It is important to note that Virgin has already successfully entered the mobile phone market in the U.K., and that experience represents a significant strength for Virgin Mobile. They also possess great strategic flexibility that comes with renting network space from Sprint on an as-needed basis. They do not face the significant fixed costs of the other carriers, which provides them the capability of targeting smaller markets. Additionally, Virgin’s partnership with MTV represents a small strength that should help them appeal to a youth
Vodafone are a multinational cooperation who retail in telecommunication services. They were originally set up in the United Kingdom in 1984, and since then they have expanded globally and have been recognised as ‘the second largest telecommunications company in the world’ with revenue spanning over $46 billion (as of 2012).
In the year 1973, the first successful demonstration of mobile phone communication was done by Dr. Martin Cooper and John Mitchell of the Motorola Company. The handset used was bulky and it weighed about one kilogram. This was still in the research stages. In 1983, the first commercially available cell phone handset was launched and it was called the DynaTAC8000x. From then on, there was a gradual growth in the development of the handsets, as well as the infrastructure used in mobile telephony. The adoption of the cell phone technology by the masses has also led to an increase in research and its expansion by the manufacturers.
Vodafone is the world's largest mobile telecommunications community, employing over 65,000 staff and with over 130 million customers. The business operates in 26 countries worldwide. Vodafone is a public limited company with listings on the London and New York stock exchanges.
In 1990, Nokia Mobile Phones (NMP) was the smallest of the five business divisions of Nokia, with annual sales of $500 million and 3,051 employees. Jorma Olilla, the new president of NMP, in the same year led the division to become the world's second largest manufacturer of mobile telephones after Motorola in just a year and half later. Motorola and NEC, the close third competitor, were the dominant players with a combined 33 percent global market share, compared with NMP's share of 13 percent. During this period, the main customers of mobile phones were business users who could afford the high prices. The everyday consumers were not overly attracted by these high prices and limited functional phones. Despite these limitations, the cellular market was growing rapidly, which brought more Asian producers into the competition. To make the matter worse, there was much proprietary technology and equipment required for analog standards around the globe. The emergence of digital technology provided a hope for a uniform communication standard. As a result, NMP had to make a difficult decision regarding which technology to commit significant resources to.
Tactical problem: Inability to go against the government`s decision to open the 1800Mhz for mobile communication with concession for a third player. Advantage of Vodafone is starting a business year earlier than WESTEL. In addition, WESTEL is not sure about what kind of strategy that Vodafone will use to penetrate into Hungarian market. -S.W.O.T ANALYSIS- -STRENGTHS- Strength: WESTEL has a local partner (Hungarian Post and Telecommunication Company). Strength: In 1990, WESTEL had generated a waiting list of 3000 customers, without any advertising. Many customers had never seen an actual phone. Strength: In 1992, the management decided to lower entry barriers and launched the affordability campaign. Teaming up with a leasing finance company, clients could lease equipment and pay the joining fee. Strength: In 1993, the geographic coverage became more complete, smaller equipment became available, and consumers started to utilize the service up to its full potential. Strength: GSM technology was a major departure from the previous system and the WESTEL had selected Ericsson to build its GSM system. Strength: WESTEL had a strong emphasis on quality and received the ISO 9001 certificate. Later it was dominated and selected for the Hungarian National Quality Prize, and the European Marshall Award. Strength: In a company survey a great part of WESTEL customers was willing to recommend the company to others. Strength: Subscription services provide excellent opportunities to cross-sell, basically providing content or other products to the customers. Further, these services offer to opportunities to upgrade, to brand and loyalty programs. Loyalty programs later have become an important factor in consumer retention. WESTEL has created its loyalty program early on, so it is a advantage for WESTEL. Strength: In May 1996, WESTEL launched its first major promotion bringing down entry barriers to an unprecedented low. During 12 days the company sold more subscriptions than WESTEL 450 in three years.