OXFORD, United Kingdom-Having been a late entrant into the Hungarian market, Vodafone is being forced to speed up the expansion of its cell-phone network after its rival, Pannon GSM, gave notice that it would terminate a roaming agreement with Vodafone for areas where the newcomer had no coverage.
This move, which has apparently caught Vodafone by surprise, will force the company into rapidly expanding its network to provide 100-percent coverage within the 90-day termination clause of the Pannon GSM contract. Failure to do so would leave the estimated 70,000 Vodafone customers currently using its rival’s network without service. Vodafone is reported to have more than 1,200 base stations in Hungary, as against Pannon, which has more than 1,500, although engineers claim that Vodafone requires more stations than Pannon due to differences in radio frequencies.
Retailers in Ireland are also causing further trouble within Vodafone’s sprawling empire by complaining to the local competition authority about the company’s decision to cut retailer profit margins on its electronic top-up facility for cell phones. The company, which is accused of providing no warning to retailers, recently announced a reduction of retail margins from 10 percent to 6.5 percent for smaller denomination top-ups. This follows a similar cut in margins from 12 percent to 10 percent on the sales of top-up cards last year.
