Portal With A View
Peggy Albright
May 14, 2001
Vodafone Unveils Its Global Data Platform
Walnut Creek, Calif.–Earlier this month the landscape here underwent a subtle change when Vodafone Group plc put its name and logo atop the building previously known as AirTouch Plaza.
The organizational changes that prompted the transformation of this East Bay facility aren't new. They actually have been in the process for more than a year now, beginning after the London-based telecom giant acquired AirTouch Communications in 1999. Vodafone also acquired a 45 percent stake in what is now Verizon Wireless.
Organizational changes aren't the only ones taking place, however. At this week's Global Wireless Internet Executive Forum, a new global initiative will emerge, based on events early last year when Vodaphone identified mobile data and Internet services as critical to its businesses around the world and announced the formation of a global platform and Internet services division.
Now Vodafone is ready to unveil what it's been quietly working on for the past 13 months. Its global data platform is the actual exciting change that is charging up the staff, which now numbers 100 and may grow by another 100 by the end of the year.
The group started dropping hints about its plans last month, when it unveiled Vizzavi, its consumer-focused global portal that it markets to Vodafone companies around the world. When Vodafone operators adopt the portal, their users can go to the Vizzavi Web site and provision services, while an emulator illustrates how the services will appear on their handsets.
This week, the man in charge of Internet content and applications, Raymond DeRenzo, will detail the company's data services mission, its platform and its Vizzavi commercialization strategy during a keynote speech at the Global Wireless Internet Executive Forum in San Jose, Calif.
When DeRenzo unveils the group's mission and strategy, he will explain how Vodafone believes its mobile operators in 30 countries will benefit from both the platform underlying Vizzavi and the global brand. He'll also explain how the group has designed the portal to address the scope of Vodafone's worldwide customer base while offering localized content and services that customers can enjoy anywhere in the world.
'This is not technology for the sake of technology,' DeRenzo says. 'It's about the user experience.'
According to a recent report from Goldman Sachs, the platform will support seamless delivery of content and services to international travelers based on common interfaces, a consistent look and feel, and remote access to features that users personalize for themselves. Vodafone intends for all of its affiliates to use the platform, wholly or in part through various modules, by early 2003.
Goldman Sachs reports that Vodafone is purchasing handsets according to a single specification and is centralizing handset testing and certification to ensure 'more clout in defining features and accelerating the introduction of new units.' Such orchestration could help the company ensure that customer handsets can deliver the data the company is creating.
While Vodafone already has launched some early versions of its platform, it expects its Vizzavi portal and the global brand to help accelerate rollout and implementation of its technology platform around the globe.
The fact that messaging, e-mail and data could be more significant in the wireless world than they are in the wired Internet world is an opportunity that Vodafone is trying to exploit, says Simon Weeden, a vice president at Goldman Sachs. The company also is attempting to leverage its global footprint, he says. 'It means that they should be able to get product to market quickly and probably more cheaply than other people,' he adds.
That is what the Walnut Creek offices are hoping for and it explains why Vodafone is excited to show off its company logo and name in this part of the world. |
