Vodafone Portugal
| File:VodafoneNewLogo.jpg | |
| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mobile Telecommunications |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters |  Portugal |
| Products | Mobile Networks, Telecom Services, etc. |
| Revenue |  € ? billion (2006) |
| € ? billion (2006) | |
 € ? billion (2006) | |
| Parent | Vodafone Group Plc |
| Website | Vodafone Portugal website |
Vodafone Portugal, a full subsidiary of the Vodafone Group, is the second mobile operator in Portugal, both chronologically and in market share (34% in 2006). Its competitors are Optimus and TMN.
History
As Telecel
Vodafone Portugal was founded in 1991 as Telecel, Comunicações Pessoais, S.A. (Telecel) as it won the bid for Portugal's second GSM operator (going against incumbent operator TMN).
The network went live in October 1992.
In 1996, the "pre-paid" concept was introduced with the launch of tariff plan Vitamina.
Telecel also held a paging license and was leader in the 4-player paging business, using the brand Telechamada.
In May 2000, Telecel entered the Internet Service Provider and web portal businesses under the brand Netc (pronounced "netcetera"). The business model was lifted from successful Freeserve, a British non-subscription ISP.
From Telecel to Vodafone
The initial group of shareholders was led by Portuguese investment bank Banco Espírito Santo, Portuguese conglomerate Amorim and USA's Pacific Telesis, owner of mobile operator PacTel Cellular.
PacTel Cellular was spun off in 1994 as AirTouch, which in turn merged in 1999 with British operator Vodafone. Thus, Telecel became minority-owned by the Vodafone Group.
Telecel was listed on the Euronext-Lisbon Stock Exchange. Banco Espírito Santo and Amorim used the IPO and subsequent sales to sell out with considerable gains, and the Vodafone Group eventually took a controlling share.
In 2003 the Vodafone Group launched a successful tender offer for all outstanding shares not in its possession, thus becoming the full owner of then-called Telecel-Vodafone. The company was definitely renamed Vodafone Portugal and delisted.
The CEO since the start is António Carrapatoso.
As Vodafone
In 2002, when Telecel was already controlled by the Vodafone Group, the parent company decided to implement the Vodafone brand worldwide, in order to achieve synergies and improve brand notoriety. Telecel was the first operator to initiate the process. This was achieved in three steps: 1. putting Vodafone after Telecel, thus referring to the company as Telecel Vodafone; 2. after six months, exchanging the order to Vodafone Telecel; and 3. after another six months (already in 2003), dropping the Telecel brand altogether. Throughout the process, market research showed no confusion and no loss of notoriety of both the brands and the operator. This had been a concern for Vodafone for Telecel was a top-ten advertiser, which had led to develop a brand with the highest recall indexes.
In 2002, the Netc ISP and web portal were rebranded Vizzavi, Vodafone's multimedia brand in association with Vivendi Universal.
In 2003, when paging was moribund as mobile phones had become so conspicuous, the Telechamada business was abandoned and the license was returned to the State.
In 2003, the Vizzavi ISP business was sold to competitor IOL, a unit of Portuguese media group Media Capital, and the web portal was closed down as Vodafone live! was launched.
Numbers
Like parent company, Vodafone Portugal's fiscal year runs from April to March. Results 2Q06:
- 4,366,000 clients, of which:
- 79,6% pre-paid, ARPU 13 Euro
- 21,4% post-paid, ARPU 62,20 Euro
- Increase of 5,8% in revenues relative to 2Q05.