Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao on Wednesday revealed that he fancies the Vodacom brand over Vodafone and maybe they could consider rebranding the world’s second biggest mobile operator by subscribers into Vodacom.
“If you ask me about the brand, I kind of prefer Vodacom than Vodafone, because Vodacom is more modern. It really talks about what we do. It’s not just a phone. It’s broader. So, maybe one day we will consider doing the opposite, actually the whole thing being called Vodacom including Europe and other countries,” Colao told TechFinancials.co.za, while responding to a question what is a stumbling block for Vodafone to merge its African assets with Vodacom Group assets.
Vodafone has assets in Ghana and Egypt, while in Kenya operates as Safaricom – a listed entity. Vodacom Group operates in South Africa, Mozambique, Lesotho, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“I want to be honest. I recognise the Vodacom brand has a little bit more than Vodafone. I like it. That’s it. I don’t think any customer is not coming to us because we don’t have a “C” but a “F”,” Vodafone boss told TechFinancials.co.za
Vodacom, SA’s largest mobile phone operator by subscribers ahead of MTN, is 65% owned by the British mobile giant Vodafone, with 17% held by the South African government and the Public Investment Corporation.
In 2008, Vodafone took control of Vodacom by buying a 15 % stake from South Africa’s Telkom for 22.5 billion rand ($2.28 billion).
Vodacom was then listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
As part of the deal, the Vodacom identity remained visible on the African continent and is being used as the exclusive investment vehicle through which Vodafone will make acquisitions in sub-Saharan Africa, excluding Ghana, Egypt and Kenya where Vodafone is already present.
When Vodafone took control of Vodacom it decided not to rebrand the South African company into Vodafone.
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