Vodafone Greece

Vodafone-Panafon Hellenic Telecommunications Company

Type	Private
Industry	Mobile telecommunications
Founded	1993
Headquarters	Halandri, Greece
Products	Vodafone live!, Vodafone Simply, Vodafone Passport, Vodafone kartokiniti, Vodafone CU etc
Website	www.vodafone.gr

Vodafone Greece is the Greek subsidiary of Vodafone. Its headquarters are in Halandri - one of the northern suburbs of Athens.

Vodafone Greece was established in Greece in 1992 – under the trade name Panafon – with the participation of Vodafone Group Plc., France Telecom, Intracom and Data Bank, and was officially renamed to Vodafone in January 2002. In December 1998, the company listed its shares in the Athens and London stock exchange, while in July 2004 it de-listed from ATHEX. Vodafone Group Plc. is the company’s major shareholder with 99.8% of Vodafone Greece shares.

Vodafone has the most extensive, technologically advanced and faults and malfunctions resistant mobile telephony network in Greece, able to provide broad coverage by ensuring high-quality communication.^{[citation needed]}

Vodafone subscriber numbers in Greece begin with the 3 digit prefix 694 and 695 followed by a seven digit subscriber number, although due to the advent of number portability in Greece, it's possible for customers to take their number to another network with them.

As of 2003, Vodafone has had an exclusive contract with popular pop musician Sakis Rouvas as the spokesperson for the company in the Greek advertising campaign. Rouvas has completed multiple commercials for the company as well as advertising the brand within his music videos and albums. Likewise, Vodafone is the primary sponsor to his large concerts and recordings. While other record labels and artists do advertisements for other mobile companies as an exchange for sponsoring, Vodafone is the only Greek mobile company to be advertised primarily by a sole artist, with Rouvas' effort being a major marketing ploy to youth and young adult consumers.

In the end of June 2010 the subscribers of the network was 5.492.000 which classifys Vodafone, the second mobile network in Greece.^{[citation needed]}

"Greek Watergate"

Main article: Greek telephone tapping case 2004-2005

A wiretapping scandal, referred to as "Greek Watergate",^[1] involved the illegal tapping of more than 100 mobile phones on the Vodafone Greece network belonging mostly to members of the Greek government and top-ranking civil servants. The taps began sometime near the beginning of the 2004 Summer Olympics in August 2004 and were removed in January 2005 without discovering the identity of the perpetrators.

On February 22 2008, Vodafone announced the replacement of its Vodafone Greece CEO for 16 years Mr. Giorgos Koronias. Mr. Koronias was considered one of the most successful (and highly-paid) managers in Greece, but most of his popularity had worn off after the "Greek Watergate" scandal. Rumors had it that despite official Vodafone announcements to the contrary, the Group's trust in him was lost due to the scandal, and it was widely expected that he would be replaced as soon as the scandal's dust had settled.

See also

• Communications in Greece

References

1. ^ Kyriakidou, Dina (March 2, 2006). ""Greek Watergate" Scandal Sends Political Shockwaves". Reuters. http://www.tiscali.co.uk/news/newswire.php/news/reuters/2006/02/03/odd/34greekwatergate34scandalsendspoliticalshockwaves.html. Retrieved 2007-11-24. 

External links

• Vodafone Greece's Website
• Vodafone Global's Website