Vodafone becomes internet player

By RICHARD BRADDELL


WELLINGTON - The world of mobile internet is a step closer with the unveiling of plans by Vodafone AirTouch, British-based parent of Vodafone New Zealand, to set up a branded global portal for data and the internet.

Vodafone expects to spend about $US150 million in the next two years on its internet platform, which it expects to be in service by next July under a brand that has yet to be finalised.

At first it will offer messaging, information services such as movie listings and e-commerce, including banking and share trading, with online broker and financial services firm Charles Schwab among the first in a number of non-exclusive deals to use the new platform.

A Vodafone spokeswoman in Sydney, Michelle Hindson, said Australia was likely to be one of the first countries for mobile online, and that could be ahead of the July target.

New Zealand could be expected to follow soon after, given the synergies between the two countries.

But what appears to have been a hasty announcement was interpreted by British media as being aimed at impressing shareholders in Mannesmann, a German telecommunications and engineering group targeted by Vodafone in a hostile sterling 86 billion scrip-based takeover bid which closes on February 7.

"As the only true global mobile operator, Vodafone AirTouch's objective is to become the world's leading multimedia operator," chief executive Chris Gent said But the announcement drew a chilly response from Mannesmann, whose chief executive, Klaus Esser, declared that the offer failed to compensate for Mannesmann's "superior internet, data and telecommerce future."

Among Vodafone's partners are Sun Microsystems and IBM, which will be providing hardware and designing the portal, and Ericsson and Nokia for phones.