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 While much of the debt-burdened telecom industry spent 2001 selling off properties, Gent upped his stakes in Japan’s J-Phone and Spain’s Airtel. Clearly he wants to maintain Vodafone’s position as the world’s largest mobile company.
In 1999 he outbid American phone giant Bell Atlantic for control of AirTouch Communications, then turned around and hooked up with Bell Atlantic to combine both companies’ wireless networks in the U.S. under the Verizon umbrella.
Last year he succeeded in his $190 billion hostile bid for Germany’s Mannesmann, a hat trick that netted him better global reach and, after the related sale of the mobile phone company Orange, a clean balance sheet. Earlier this month Gent gained control of Japan Telecom, that country’s No. 3 provider. The deal also increased Vodafone’s stake in mobile unit J-Phone and gives the company a major foothold in one of the world’s fastest-growing and most profitable mobile markets.
The Vision Thing: "We have confidence in the business case for 3-G wireless products and services, despite the high cost of licenses against original market estimates."
Forward Spin: Although voice services will continue to be Vodafone’s mainstay, Gent expects to launch third-generation mobile services in most of its markets during the second half of 2002. He believes that 20% to 25% of Vodafone’s service revenues will be derived from mobile data by 2004. Analysts say Japan is a good place to gain experience with next-generation wireless technology and data services. But the latest deal pits Vodafone directly against NTT DoCoMo, which has already captured nearly 60% of the Japanese market and has global ambitions of its own.
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