Vodafone overhauls European structure

Mobile phone giant Vodafone acted today to revive its flagging performance in Europe as well as capture a slice of new revenue streams such as mobile TV.

Vodafone announced a shake-up of its operations that will see all its major European markets – including the UK and Germany – grouped under a new chief executive.

Two more units are being created to handle emerging markets, such as India, and focus on innovation.

Vodafone said its size advantage over its competitors in Europe meant there were costs that could be eliminated. Although the firm did not give a figure on the potential savings, one analyst expected them to be “considerable”.

The new unit for Europe will be headed by Bill Morrow, the head of Vodafone’s business in Japan which was sold last month to SoftBank for £8.9bn (€12.7bn).