OXFORD, United Kingdom-Having launched its revamped data services in an expensive blaze of publicity, Vodafone is now coming under the spotlight of City of London financial analysts as to the likelihood of meeting the target of 20 percent of the company’s revenue being gained from services other than voice calls by 2004.
The concerns of these industry watchers is focused on the likely cost of multimedia message service (MMS) cell phones, suggested to be between 300 euros (US$301) and 550 euro (US$552), that Vodafone believes will be the primary driver behind the growth in data traffic. While the company claims that more than 12 percent of current revenues are from data services, it expects the 1 million MMS-capable cell phones it plans to sell by next March will considerably boost this figure.
To add to this concern, the company is continuing to cut subsidies on cell phones purchased by its substantial prepaid user base-reported as being 56 percent of the base in Germany and more than 60 percent in the United Kingdom-to purchase these new and expensive handsets. However, the company has recently revised downward it data targets following better financial performance from it voice services. The company had originally stated it expected data services to contribute up to 25 percent of revenues by 2004.
