STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 25, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Vodafone Group has decided to open a second Centre of Excellence in Karlskrona. It will be called Business on the Move and is to pioneer the development of the business services of the future. It is an initiative shared by Vodafone U.K. and Vodafone Sweden. The centre will mean the creation of 8 new jobs in Karlskrona.
Vodafone Group Technology decided a month ago to locate a Centre of Excellence with technology focus for Wireless Office in Karlskrona, Sweden. Vodafone's global marketing department has now also decided to place part of the Centre of Excellence "Business on the Move" in Karlskrona.
Business on the Move is to develop business services that will be put on the global market within 18-36 months. The Swedish part of the centre will focus on developing the Wireless Office and global telematics services for both meter reading and for vehicle applications -- a field which Vodafone Sweden is a European leader.
The main part of the competence centre will be based in London. Having a competence centre in two countries with two different markets will contribute valuable market experience of different telephony cultures and business environments. The Centre of Excellence in Karlskrona enjoys the advantages of belonging to the TelecomCity network, and will be supported by the strong local basis of applications development companies.
"In Karlskrona, the companies that make up the TelecomCity network constitute an important resource of telecoms expertise. We therefore hope to use them both as suppliers and as pilot customers," says Klas Wallstrom, Head of Business Segment at Vodafone.
The Vodafone Group has majority-controlled subsidiaries in 15 countries and boasts a combined base of more than 150 million customers. The Vodafone competence centre will develop new services for the whole Vodafone Group.
"Having two Centres of Excellence in Karlskrona endows us with a key strategic significance when it comes to developing tomorrow's business services," says Klas Wallstrom.
The staff of Business on the Move will be employed by the Vodafone Group. The centre will be fully staffed and operational after the summer.
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-0- Klas Wallstrom, Head of Business Segment +46 709 61 47 33 e-mail: klas.wallstrom@vodafone.com Johan Holmgren, Director of Public Relations +46 708 33 14 00 e-post: johan.holmgren@vodafone.com