please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article relies too much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . june 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message vodafone uk limited type subsidiary industry telecommunication founded 1982 1982 headquarters newbury berkshire england area served united kingdom key people nick jeffery ceo 1 services telecommunications internet service provider parent vodafone group plc website www.vodafone.co.uk vodafone uk is a provider of telecommunications services in the united kingdom and a part of the vodafone group the world s second largest mobile phone company . 2 3 4 as of may 2016 vodafone uk has 18.2 million subscribers and is the third largest mobile telecommunications network nationally after ee and o2 . 5 contents 1 history 1.1 mobile network 1.2 fixed network 1.3 radio frequency summary 2 marketing 2.1 stores 2.2 vodafone vip 2.3 freebee rewardz 2.4 slogans 3 controversies 3.1 data charges 3.2 loss of network 4 references 5 external links history edit mobile network edit in 1981 racal electronics group won its bid for the private sector uk cellular licence and created racal telecomms division . the same year racal formed a joint venture with millicom named racal vodafone . vodafone made the first ever cellular telephone call in the united kingdom on 1 january 1985 from st katharine docks to newbury and launched the uk s first cellular network later that year . vodapage was launched two years later providing 80 % of the united kingdom s population with a paging service . racal telecom was demerged from racal electronics in 1991 becoming vodafone group and introduced the country s first gsm mobile phone network the same year . the company launched vodata in 1994 providing digital data fax and a text messaging service . vodafone also began working with globalstar to develop and launch a satellite to provide a satellite phone service . on 5 january 1999 vodafone uk connected its 5 millionth customer . the first 3g voice call in the uk was made in 2001 on the vodafone uk network with an initial network of 30 base stations in the thames valley . in 2003 vodafone introduced the speaking phone a phone for blind & visually impaired users . vodafone mobile connect 3g was launched in 2005 a data card that uses the network s 3g capabilities to connect laptop users to the internet . vodafone uk won mobile retailer s national retailer of the year in 2005 and was awarded best network in the 2010 mobile news and mobile awards . 6 in may 2011 vodafone and justgiving launched justtextgiving which allows mobile phone user to donate between 1 and 10 to a registered charity using a sms message which is paid for by the donor through reverse sms billing . vodafone invested 5 million to ensure that charities do not incur any set up costs or commissions deducted from donations ensuring that they receive 100 % of donations and gift aid . 7 8 vodafone and o2 signed a deal in june 2012 which will see the two companies pool their network technology creating a single national grid of 18 500 transmitter sites . both networks will continue to carry their own independent mobile spectrum . 9 10 11 on 20 february 2013 ofcom announced that vodafone had been awarded spectrum in the 800 mhz and 2.6 ghz bands for 4g lte coverage bidding around 790 million for the spectrum . 12 the service became available to customers in london on 29 august and will expand to a further twelve cities by the end of 2013 . 13 fixed network edit on 1 april 2012 vodafone agreed a takeover of cable & wireless worldwide at a cost of just over 1 billion . 14 the acquisition gave vodafone access to its own fixed line network in addition to the already established mobile network allowing the company to begin work on launching a variety of fixed line services to enterprise customers in addition to the ex cww customers which it acquired during the initial takeover . following the acquisition of cww vodafone began working on a consumer broadband and tv proposition utilising its fibre network . vodafone launched its broadband offering to the uk public on 12 october 2015 . 15 work is ongoing for the launch of vodafone s uk tv service which the company originally planned to launch before the spring of 2016 16 however has since delayed to a later date . radio frequency summary edit frequencies used on the vodafone uk network frequency protocol class 900 mhz gsm gprs edge 2g 1800 mhz gsm gprs edge . lte 17 18 2g 4g 900 mhz umts hsdpa hspa dc hspa 3g 2100 mhz umts hsdpa hspa dc hspa . lte 18 3g 4g 800 mhz lte 4g 2600 mhz lte advanced 4g spectrum capacity on the vodafone uk 4g network 800 mhz 1800 mhz 2100mhz 2600 mhz vodafone uk 2x10 mhz 2x5mhz 17 18 2x5mhz or 2x10mhz 18 2x20 mhz ee 2x5 mhz 2x20 mhz 2x35mhz o2 uk 2x10mhz 3 uk 2x5mhz 2x15 mhz vodafone lte 1800mhz and 2100mhz is only available in some areas having been refarmed from 2g 1800mhz and 3g 2100mhz . marketing edit stores edit vodafone operates a retail estate with more than 500 stores located across the uk that sell mobile phone handsets vodafone contracts & sim offers . 19 a tech team section similar to apple s genius bar was rolled out in november 2011 to vodafone elite status stores in cities & large towns offering free advice to all customers of the mobile network . vodafone also introduced the red box to its stores at the same time which allows phone users to transfer contents between handsets . 20 london taxi with vodafone livery vodafone vip edit since 2010 vodafone uk have operated a vip reward scheme as part of a partnership with live nation in which customers can access tickets 48 hours before release for major uk events including t in the park isle of wight festival reading & leeds festival london fashion week and the british grand prix . 21 some of the music festivals involved in the scheme have their own vodafone vip areas available to customers by winning certain competitions . in may 2013 the vodafone vip mobile application developed by invitation digital was launched on both iphone and android platforms . in january 2014 vodafone announced the closure of vodafone vip with immediate effect . freebee rewardz edit vodafone uk launched a loyalty scheme named rewardz in late 2011 accompanied by a 3million marketing campaign featuring two cgi bees named jack and mike voiced by dan antopolski and karl theobald . 22 each time a pay as you go customer tops up their balance they are given the chance to either enter for an instant reward such as a discount on a film from blockbuster or free credit toward their balance or to collect pointz that can be added to their account towards a bigger prize . 23 slogans edit vodafone used the slogan how are you 24 in the uk between 2003 and 2006 but briefly switched in 2007 to make the most of now . 25 they have now switched to international power to you branding . 26 controversies edit data charges edit vodafone uk came under criticism in june 2011 after they scrapped their fair use policy on data charges meaning those without monthly allowances would pay 50p for every 10mb of data used . 27 loss of network edit a break in at the vodafone exchange centre in basingstoke on 28 february 2011 left several hundreds of thousands of customers in the west of london without network access after burglars stole computer equipment and damaged network hardware . 28 references edit feedback to the vodafone uk ceo . vodafone . retrieved 2013 07 10 . global 500 . cnn money . 25 july 2011 . retrieved 3 may 2012 . krishna r. jai ; mukherjee arpan 30 july 2010 . vodafone says no tax due in india mulls ipo for local unit . the wall street journal . retrieved 23 august 2010 . news release pdf . vodafone group plc. retrieved 9 february 2012 . news release pdf . retrieved 2016 05 17 . about us legal information . vodafone . 1985 01 01 . retrieved 2012 09 25 . warman matt 9 may 2011 . new age of charity donations by text message . the daily telegraph . justgiving and vodafone launch free text donation service . fundraising uk . 9 may 2011 . laughlin andrew 2012 06 07 . vodafone and o2 to merge mobile network infrastructure . digital spy . retrieved 2013 07 10 . bbc news 2 october 2012 . 4g timetable agreed by uk mobile network operators . vodafone uk 26 october 2012 . vodafone 4g . ofcom announces winners of the 4g mobile auction . ofcom . 20 february 2013 . retrieved 20 february 2013 . vodafone announces 4g launch in uk . bbc news . 2013 08 07 . retrieved 2013 08 07 . vodafone agrees 1bn takeover of c & w worldwide . bbc news . 23 april 2012 . retrieved 23 april 2012 . vodafone broadband and home phone services roll out across the uk . vodafone uk media centre . 12 october 2015 . retrieved 12 october 2015 . vodafone will launch tv service in the uk before april 2016 . broadbandchoices . 11 november 2015 . retrieved 11 november 2015 . a b mobile network in a briefcase comes to london joint innovation by vodafone and ericsson vodafone uk media centre . vodafone uk media centre . retrieved 2016 06 02 . a b c d vodafone 4g 2100mhz and 4g 1800mhz . pedroc.co.uk . retrieved 2016 06 02 . vodafone uk to roll out 50 new stores . 3g . co.uk . 2008 12 09 . retrieved 2012 09 25 . vodafone launches new uk tech team tech news . digital spy . 2011 11 01 . retrieved 2012 09 25 . sara kimberley 2010 06 22 . vodafone launches major reward scheme marketing news . marketing magazine . retrieved 2012 09 25 . sarah shearman 2011 10 18 . vodafone supports freebee rewardz with 3m campaign marketing news . marketing magazine . retrieved 2012 09 25 . vodafone uk to launch vodafone freebee rewardz tech on the go news and reviews covering iphone android and mobile computing . techonthego.co.uk . 2011 09 30 . retrieved 2012 09 25 . vodafone live advert ad vodafone live video clip . visit4ads.com . retrieved 2012 09 25 . https www.youtube.com watch v q2gym c e7u power to who vodafone rebrand shows focus on applications smartphones and developers . gomonews.com . retrieved 2012 09 25 . trenholm rich 2010 05 19 . vodafone s new data roaming charges force you to travel light . cnet . retrieved 2013 07 10 . thousands lose vodafone service . bbc news . 2011 02 28 . retrieved 2013 07 10 . external links edit official website v t e vodafone subsidiaries and divisions albania czech republic egypt germany ghana greece hungary india ireland italy malta netherlands new zealand northern cyprus portugal qatar romania spain turkey united kingdom vodafone global enterprise kabel deutschland vodafone automotive shareholdings australia 50 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