Vodafone Portugal
Encyclopedia
Optimus Telecomunicações, S.A.
Optimus Telecomunicações, S.A. is a Portuguese GSM/UMTS mobile operator. The company was incorporated at the end of 1997 after winning the bid for Portugal's third GSM license...
and TMN.
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 (after 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 January 2000, the indirect access fixed-line telephone service was launched, using Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal. Although it operates mainly in Portugal and Brazil, it has also a significant presence in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Angola, Kenya, the People's Republic of China, and São Tomé and...
's infrastrutctures and the 1091 prefix. It used the brands toq 1091 (for the home costumers; now discontinued in favour of Vodafone at Home/Vodafone Casa) and Voz Pri (for the business costumers; still used as part of the business solutions).
In May of the same year, Telecel entered the Internet Service Provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
and web portal
Web portal
A web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way....
businesses under the brand Netc . The business model was lifted from successful Freeserve
Freeserve
Freeserve was a British Internet Service Provider, founded in 1998. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but merged into the Wanadoo group in 2000, itself a subsidiary of France Telecom...
, a British non-subscription ISP.
From Telecel to Vodafone
The initial group of shareholders was led by Portuguese investment bank Banco Espírito SantoBanco Espírito Santo
Banco Espírito Santo is a private Portuguese bank, based in Lisbon.The Banco Espírito Santo’s origins began with the lottery, currency exchange and securities business carried out by José Maria do Espírito Santo e Silva between 1869 and 1884...
, Portuguese conglomerate Amorim
Amorim
Amorim is a Portuguese surname. A habitational name from any of the various places named Amorim, originally Amorini, from the name of the estate owner.It may refer to:- People :*Ana Amorim, Brazilian handball player...
and USA's Pacific Telesis, owner of mobile operator PacTel Cellular.
PacTel Cellular was spun off in 1994 as AirTouch
AirTouch
AirTouch Communications was a U.S.-based wireless telephone service provider, created as a spin-off on Pacific Telesis on April 1, 1994. Its headquarters were in One California in the Financial District, San Francisco, California...
, which in turn merged in 1999 with British operator Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
. Thus, Telecel became minority-owned by the Vodafone Group.
Telecel was listed on the Euronext
Euronext
Euronext N.V. is a pan-European stock exchange based in Amsterdam and with subsidiaries in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom. In addition to equities and derivatives markets, the Euronext group provides clearing and information services...
-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 was António Carrapatoso. Now new CEO is Antonio Coimbra.
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 synergiesSynergy
Synergy may be defined as two or more things functioning together to produce a result not independently obtainable.The term synergy comes from the Greek word from , , meaning "working together".-Definitions and usages:...
and improve brand awareness. 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 awareness 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 ubiquitous, 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
Media Capital
Media Capital SGPS, SA, is a Portuguese media corporation founded in 1988 , based in Oeiras, Lisbon. Media Capital is a major media group in Portugal, and is one of the biggest media corporations in Europe...
, and the web portal was closed down as Vodafone live!
Vodafone live!
Vodafone live! was the brand name for the multimedia portal service of mobile phone operator Vodafone, which was initially developed by Japan's J-Phone under the J-Sky brand...
was launched.
In 2006, Vodafone Portugal disconnected the Cell Broadcast
Cell Broadcast
Cell Broadcast messaging is a mobile technology feature defined by the ETSI’s GSM committee and is part of the GSM standard. It is also known as Short message service-Cell Broadcast ....
service.
Vodafone Portugal also provides ADSL2+ services, including VoIP telephone service and IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
, under the brand Vodafone Casa.
Despite being branded as part of the international Vodafone group Vodafone Portugal share none of the renowned customer service of its UK parent. It remains little more than a rebranded version of Telecel. That is to say they suffer the problems of many bloated, inefficient Portuguese companies with the same short-sighted staff, inflexible, slow processes resulting in often extremely poor customer service. This is a pity as, from a technical standpoint, they have great products and services which, in the main work well.
Figures
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.