Vodafone denies delaying 3G roll-out

Vodafone has today denied it is delaying the roll-out of 3G mobile phone services.

The company said today it would not commercially launch third generation mobile phones in the UK this year.

Vodafone is planning to trial the majority of its 3G services - the next generation of mobiles which allow Internet access and other hi-tech services - this year with commercial launch in places including the UK starting next year.

It added the only place it would commercially launch the hi-tech phones this year would be in Japan.

However Vodafone denied a report saying there had been a delay in launch.

The Financial Times said the group was postponing the launch of services due to a shortage of suitable handsets, adding Vodafone had previously said it would launch 3G services in the UK, Germany and Spain this year.

A spokeswoman for Vodafone today said: "We always said we would be trialing the majority of 3G this year with commercial launch in 2003. Nothing has changed from that.

"In the UK we have always said trials would be this year and commercial launch in 2003. Nothing has changed in terms of timing."

She added that in Japan trials had already started, with commercial launch planned towards the end of the year.

The spokeswoman added that Vodafone chief executive Chris Gent had said at the time of the group’s results in May it would not be promoting 3G this year.

He said at the time: "Although we open 3G this year we will not be promoting it both because we do not expect plentiful supplies of dual-mode handsets until the next financial year and it is applications that matter for our customers not technology."

The spokeswoman said: "We are opening 3G this year but will not be promoting it. We said back in May we would be opening it but not promoting it. It depends on how you define a launch."

The market barely reacted to the news - shares initially edged up before slipping a marginal to 96.

David Buik at City bookmaker Cantor Index said the news was "fully expected by some market makers".