When Vodafone agreed to sell its stake in Verizon back to Verizon, I – along with many others – presumed the UK-based company was done with the States. It seemed a safe assumption given the fact that it was a big part of the country’s biggest carrier, and yet decided to sell it. And given that the company has been using its $130 billion from the deal to invest heavily in Europe. But it was a wrong assumption. Vodafone is coming back for more, but with a very different approach.
According to a press release published last night, Voda is going to return as an MVNO using T-Mobile’s network. It’s plan is to aim squarely at the enterprise market, to provide a solution specifically for multi-national clients. It’s planning to launch the service late next year (2015).
Vodafone wants to supply wireless services to more than 400 multinational clients, and a further 500 Vodafone multinational customers based outside America, but with a “strong U.S. presence”.
According to the press release Vodafone’s MNC proposition includes:
- an unrivaled international wireless footprint, with networks in 27 countries (including 16 Vodafone markets with 4G LTE networks) extending to more than 75 countries through partner market relationships
- proven total communications products and services for enterprise, from telecommunications expense management and security products to cloud services and Vodafone OneNet fixed-mobile converged products and services enabling employees to collaborate and communicate on any device on any network, anywhere
- ongoing expansion of the world’s most advanced IP-VPN global network, with 91 points of presence (PoPs) rising to 212 PoPs by the end of 2015 to span 67 countries
- and global leadership in M2M capabilities, with Vodafone SIMs now embedded in more than 18.6 million products across 23 countries
From a T-Mobile point-of-view this could give the company a bigger foothold in the enterprise market. And area where, traditionally, T-Mobile hasn’t done so well. At least not compared to the likes of Verizon which has a huge corporate customer base.
Source: Vodafone Americas