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To: WR who wrote (16841)	9/16/2000 11:47:53 AM
From: WR	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29987

Vodafone UK today announces that it has connected its 10 millionth customer just 15 years, 8 months and 1 week since it launched the UK's first mobile phone network on 1 January 1985, confirming its position as the UK's most popular mobile phone network. Nearly one in five of the nation's population now owns a mobile phone connected to the Vodafone network. "Today marks another major milestone in the history of Vodafone and another significant first for us," commented Peter Bamford, Chief Executive of Vodafone UK. "It took Vodafone nearly nine years to reach its first million customers and another five years to reach 5 million customers, but in the last 20 months, Vodafone's five million customers have doubled to 10 million." "We are very proud to have reached this figure," he continued, "And would like to thank all our customers for helping Vodafone to achieve such a momentous landmark." Since the launch of its network in 1985, Vodafone has connected an average of 1,748 customers per day, with the last million customers being connected in just under 4 months - the equivalent of 8,300 customers a day, or one customer every 10 seconds! During this time two other significant milestones have been reached with a record 6 million text messages being sent in one day across the Vodafone network in August and approximately 50 million Vodafone voice calls being made daily as from 1 September 2000. Over 60% of its 10 million UK customers are connected to Vodafone's prepay service, Pay as you Talk. The phenomenal growth in mobile phone usage can be largely attributed to prepay phones, first introduced in the UK by Vodafone in 1997. With the advent of prepay, mass market distribution of mobile phones became a reality with high street multiple retailers, supermarkets, post offices, newsagents, convenience stores and even petrol stations throughout the country stocking them. Vodafone now has approximately 12,000 retail outlets nation-wide, including almost 300 of its own Vodafone retail stores, selling its Pay as you Talk prepay service, as well as 60,000 outlets stocking its prepay 'Top-Up' cards - all of which have assisted Vodafone in achieving its 10 millionth customer. Throughout this period of dramatic growth in consumer customers, Vodafone has continued to maintain its traditional leadership in the provision of mobile phone services to the corporate market. In addition to the impact of the prepay revolution on the sale of mobile phones, consistent reductions in the cost of owning and running a mobile have also further stimulated growth, contributing to Vodafone's 10 million customers. Vodafone's latest reduction in price plans for account customers introduced on 1 September this year was the fifth cut in costs over the last 3 years and amounts to a typical reduction of over 50% in Vodafone call costs and line rental over that period. Beginning its existence as a subsidiary of Racal Telecom in 1982 in a single building in Newbury, Berkshire and employing just 5 people, Vodafone Group has grown in to the UK FTSE's largest company, employing over 10,500 people in the UK alone. Also the world's leading mobile telecommunications company, Europe's largest company and one of the top 10 companies in the world, the Vodafone Group now has interests in operations in 25 countries on 5 continents employing almost 105,000 staff world-wide, with a market capitalisation of approximately £180 billion. NOTES TO EDITORS: 1. Significant Vodafone UK Network Statistics: Every hour, on average, Vodafone UK: - Adds 347 customers - Handles over 2 million calls - Handles over 250,000 Text Messages - Handles over 100,000 data calls - Sells nearly 10,000 Pay as you Talk TopUp cards 2. Vodafone UK Rate of Customer Connection since network launch: Milestone Date Number Vodafone Customers Rate of connection per million customers (months) January 1985 1st customer December 1993 1 million 107 months June 1996 2 million 30 months September 1997 3 million 15 months January 1999 5 million 8 months September 2000 10 million 4 months vodafone.co.uk