Vodafone 2002 Annual Report Download - page 13

Information on the Company Vodafone Group Plc 11Annual Report & Accounts and Form 20-F
Business strategy
The Company has maintained a strategy of focusing on global mobile
telecommunications and providing network coverage to allow its customers
to communicate using mobile products and services.
In early 2001, the Company realigned its strategy to reflect industry changes and
increased its focus on revenue growth and margin improvement. This growth
strategy can be broken down into three principal components:
•a more focused approach to attracting, servicing and retaining high value
customers, achieved through the targeting of specific customer segments
and global accounts;
• continued geographic expansion, including, for example, through the use of
brand licensing arrangements and partner network agreements, increasing
equity interests in businesses where the Group has existing shareholdings
and promoting the Vodafone brand across the world; and
•provision of new products and services to support growth in revenues from
both voice and data.
Further details on the Group’s strategy for product and service development can
be found under “Strategic developments – Products and services”, below.
Where appropriate, and if circumstances allow, the Company may also make
further acquisitions or disposals of businesses.
Business activities – Mobile Telecommunications
Geographic operations
The Company now has interests in 28 countries across five continents. Based on
ownership interests at 31 March 2002, the Company, through its subsidiary
undertakings, joint ventures, associated undertakings and investments, had
approximately 101.1 million registered customers, excluding paging customers,
calculated on a proportionate basis in accordance with the Company’s
percentage interest in its ventures. There were over 229.1 million registered
customers in ventures in which the Company either has control or invests.
On 1 April 2001, in response to the expansion of the Group, the Company
implemented a planned reorganisation of its overall management structure into
five main regions: Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa; Central Europe;
Southern Europe; Americas and Asia; and Pacific. Subsequent to this, on
18 December 2001, the Company announced a further change to its regional
structure. With effect from 1 January 2002, the Group’s interests in Japan,
China and India were formed into a new Asia region. All of the Group’s other
regions remain unchanged.
Accordingly, the Group’s geographical division of operations were reorganised
into the following regions: Northern Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe,
Americas, Asia Pacific, and Middle East and Africa. The results for the Asia and
Pacific regions are reported in aggregate and the Group’s Middle East and Africa
operations are reported as a separate segment. Geographical segments for the
analysis of the Group’s operating results for the twelve months ended 31 March
2001 and 31 March 2000 have been amended and comparatives restated.
The Company does not believe that these changes to its division of operations
will materially affect the way in which it conducts business across geographic
lines or the manner in which it manages its world-wide interests. The description
of each region’s business activities below is based on the geographical division
of the Company’s operations at 31 March 2002.
The table on the next page sets out a summary of the Company’s world-wide
cellular operations at 31 March 2002, and venture customer growth in the year
then ended.