Data Plans for iPad Wi-Fi + 3G:

Plan	Data	Fee
1 Day	500MB per day	€3.99
30 Day	5GB per month	€20.00

Data plans do not require a term contract.

See here for further information on iPad data plans and Micro SIMs or to register interest.

For more information about iPad please visit www.apple.com/ipad.

*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010: Two stars of Louth and Offaly’s championship seasons joined the official GAA Player of the Month awards list today as first-time winners Paddy Keenan and Shane Dooley received their Vodafone sponsored awards.

For Paddy Keenan, the award was recognition for his outstanding performances in Louth’s Leinster football championship victories over Kildare and Westmeath in June, victories which have made this Louth’s best season in half a century. Keenan’s midfield partnership with Brian White has been the engine room for Louth’s great resurgence and he particularly stood out against Westmeath on Sunday week last, scoring three crucial points as Louth edged the semi-final by two and made it to their first provincial final since 1960.

Keenan has played a true captain’s role throughout the campaign and started as he meant to go on by kicking Louth’s opening score of the championship after just one minute of the encounter with Longford last month.

Meanwhile, the hurling award went to one of the most famous hurling families of recent decades as Offaly’s Shane Dooley collected his first award on the back of his outstanding display in his county’s drawn Leinster semi-final clash with Galway and another eye-catching performance in Sunday week’s narrow replay defeat. Dooley provided one of the great moments of the championship so far in the drawn game when he showed nerves of steel to earn his side a replay with a stunning pointed free from well over 70 yards three minutes into injury time.

Dooley, son of current team manager Joe and nephew of triple All-Star and All-Ireland medal winner Johnny and double All-Star and All-Ireland medal winner Billy, finished the drawn game with 1-7 (1-6 from frees) to his name and hit ten points, including two from play, in Sunday week’s replay. His heroics in the drawn game had a real sense of déjà vu about them as he also saved Offaly in the first round clash with Antrim at the end of May by pointing an injury time free to send the game to extra-time from where Offaly pressed on to victory.

Congratulating the June Player of the Month award winners, Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Criostóir Ó Cuana said: “I am delighted to be here to jointly present these awards to both Paddy Keenan and Shane Dooley. Individually, and with their teammates, they have provided us with memorable moments already this year. I am really looking forward to more from them over the remainder of the championships and wish them every success.”

On behalf of sponsors Vodafone, Head of Sales Fergus Devereux, who jointly presented the awards, said: “This year’s awards are proving to be so enjoyable, not least because there is such an even spread among the counties. We have had ten winners so far this year and they have been drawn from eight different counties, which show just how competitive this season is in both codes. Paddy and Shane are worthy winners of their awards and we look forward to seeing more from them as the championship continues.”

Ends

For further information, contact:
Darina Sexton, Vodafone Press Office, 087 7753000
Brendan Murphy, FD, 087 2051111
Lisa Clancy, GAA Communications Office, 01 8363222

8th June, 2010

Vodafone Ireland today launched Broadband in a Box, the most innovative broadband product yet.  Now it no longer matters whether you are at home or on the move, with Broadband in a Box you are always connected! In one simple package, you get the power of fixed broadband with the flexibility of mobile together with line rental; free calls to Vodafone mobiles; free local and national landline calls and free calls to UK landlines, all for just €54.99 a month.  Vodafone Broadband in a Box is available from Vodafone stores nationwide from today. 

The unique Broadband in a Box product comes with an advanced fixed home broadband modem and also a 3G broadband modem that inserts into the modem or can be used on its own.  Because Broadband in a Box has plug-and-play capability, there is no interruption to home line service while you switch.  This two-in-one technology puts the consumer in control, providing the flexibility to use the internet at home and away. 

The unique benefits of Vodafone Broadband in a Box include:

   •  Superb value - Includes local and national landline calls and line rental
   •  Extra value - calls to Vodafone mobiles and UK landlines are also included
   •  Plug and play: you can use the 3G modem while the phone line is being set up, meaning you can use the product straight out of the box
   •  Powerful fixedline broadband, with mobile broadband on the nation’s best-performing network
   •  3Mbps download speeds on fixed DSL, with some regions reaching up to 8Mbps uncongested speeds with our enhanced broadband products.
   •  40G usage on fixed; 10G usage on mobile
 
Speaking at the launch of Broadband in a Box, Consumer Director Stefano Gastaut said, “Vodafone is delighted to introduce this new product.  By combining fixed and mobile in one simple, easy-to-use product, we are giving our customers not only the quality that they expect from Vodafone, but the value too.” 

Vodafone Broadband in a Box is available to purchase for €19.99 once off, and packages are €54.99 for Off-Peak Talk package, and €60.99 for Talk Anytime.  To sign up for Vodafone Broadband in a Box, visit a Vodafone store today, ring 1800 620 620 or call into any Vodafone store.

Ends

For more information

Laura Mannion, 087 294 9302, Laura.mannion@drury.ie
Darina Sexton, 087 775 3000, darina.sexton@vodafone.com

Dublin GAA fans have 20 new reasons to get their hands on the official new strip ahead of the first showdown of the 2010 championship season thanks to a joint ‘Trade-in’ offer between the official new Dublin sponsor Vodafone and Champion Sports.

The new ‘Trade-in’ deal will see €20* slashed off the current €60 price of the new 2010 Dublin Home Jersey for fans who bring their old jersey into Champion branches across Dublin.  The Trade-in deal will be available from today, Monday, May 24th, at all Dublin branches of Champion Sports and Champion stores in Carlow, Newbridge and Drogheda

The move was welcomed by Dublin players today at the launch of the deal. Football star and All Ireland U-21 final man-of-the-match Rory O’Carroll said, “The feedback on the jersey has been extremely positive and it is great that this jersey trade-in deal has been launched before the championship starts as fans can get their hands on it at a discount.”

Welcoming the launch, Vodafone Ireland Customer Experience Director, Martin Wells said, “We wanted to do something to make it easier for the thousands of fans out there who want to get the new jersey so we look forward to seeing fans wearing it at the next Dublin match against Wexford.”

*Offer applies to 2010 O’Neills Dublin Home Jersey.  Discounts are €20 Off Adult Mens, €15 Off Junior Sizes and €10 Off Infants Sizes.

Ends

5 billion text messages sent by Vodafone Ireland customers

Tuesday, 18th May 2010: Vodafone Group Plc today issued preliminary results for the year ended 31st March 2010. The following information relates to Vodafone Ireland's performance during the period and should be read in conjunction with the Group press release available here.

Vodafone Ireland remains Ireland’s leading total communications provider with 2.14 million customers in the year ended 31st March 2010. In addition, the Company’s fixed line and DSL business stood at 194,000 at the end of the quarter, bringing Vodafone Ireland’s total telecoms base to 2.33 million as at 31st March 2010.

Vodafone Ireland continued to offer the very best value with customers continuing to use more texts and minutes at lower prices. In the 3 months ended 31st March 2010, Vodafone Ireland customers used 22% more texts and 1.5% more voice minutes than in the previous year’s quarter, bringing the total texts sent in the year to 4.83 billion and total voice minutes to 6.42 billion. In the same period, average blended monthly ARPU decreased by 7.7% to €36.10 from €39.10.   Vodafone Ireland’s customers’ consumption of voice minutes remained higher than the Vodafone Europe average. Vodafone Ireland customers used on average 257 voice minutes each month and 200 text messages in the quarter ended 31st March 2010 versus a European average of 152 voice minutes and 89 text messages. The company also saw strong postpay performance with 14,000 net additions in the quarter.

Commenting on the results, Gerry Fahy, strategy director, Vodafone Ireland said; “In the last twelve months, value has become more important than ever. In response, Vodafone has delivered overall price reductions of approximately 21 per cent to our customers compared with a year ago. Due to the size of Vodafone’s community, the Company can deliver significant value to customers calling and texting other Vodafone customers. In the last year 65% of Vodafone to Vodafone calls and texts for prepay customers were given free through Free Texts and Free Weekends.
”During the last twelve months we have continued to pursue our strategy in the fixed line market, most notably through the acquisition of BT’s consumer and small business retail customer base.The landmark deal also provides Vodafone access to BT’s wholesale fixed line network. To date, 31 exchanges have been upgraded covering 340,000 lines affording Vodafone the ability to launch an exciting and innovative roadmap of fixed products and services that are strongly differentiated from those available in the market today. Customers are strongly welcoming the greater choice and value on offer in the market and we now have over 20% of the DSL broadband market,” added Fahy.

Despite the challenging economic environment Vodafone continues to invest heavily in its network with the recent announcement of the rollout of HSPA+, or 3.5G technology. The Company was the first operator in Ireland to enable 3.5G and has subsequently accelerated its rollout enabling the network to deliver a significantly enhanced mobile broadband experience nationwide by June of this year. With the deployment of 3.5G users will now be able to access a range of data intensive products and services on the best performing network.

Earlier this year Vodafone launched its very successful Cheer Up Your Top Up campaign where prepay customers could avail of up to 40% free credit when they topped up. “While the current climate calls on every business to run a leaner operation - it also means taking into account the new challenges that an uncertain economic environment places on our customers. It is vital that we demonstrate our ongoing commitment to our customers to help them through an acute financial period in their lives as we have done in the last quarter by delivering best value via initiatives such as Cheer Up Your Top Up. We issued €5m in free call credit to our customers in the months of the campaign,” continued Fahy. “We stepped up competition in the smart phone market with the successful launch of iPhone on Ireland’s number one network. In the two weeks post launch we had over 40,000 iPhones on the network.

While the operating environment remains challenging we continue to react to the changing conditions by delivering innovative products and services as well as exceptional value to our customers. By doing so we continue to maintain a strong, competitive business and have secured strong traction in the fixed line market,” said Gerry Fahy.
/Ends

For further information:
Cara Twohig
Vodafone Ireland
Tel: 087 688 7316
Eilish Joyce
FD
Tel: 087 791 4641

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010: Two of the most stylish exponents of football and hurling, Armagh’s Steven McDonnell and Galway’s Ger Farragher have today been announced as winners of the April Player of the Month Awards, sponsored by Vodafone.

The duo was presented with their awards by Vodafone Ireland Business & Enterprise Director Anne O’Leary and Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Criostóir Ó Cuana.

Three time All Star winner McDonnell, who was a pivotal member of Armagh’s historic All-Ireland title winning side of 2002 and who now has six Ulster titles to his name, captained his county and lead from the front as Armagh claimed the Division 2 league title with a two point victory over neighbours and old rivals Down on Sunday week last. McDonnell, a member of the Killeavy club, scored five points from play (six in all) in a game that sets him and his resurgent Armagh side up nicely for a tilt at Derry in the first round of the championship on May 16th next.

Meanwhile, the silken skills of Galway’s stylish midfielder Ger Farragher (27) were rewarded as he was selected as the Hurling Player of the Month on the back of his fine performance in helping Galway to confirm their place in last Sunday’s league final as they overcame Dublin on April 4th at Pearse Stadium, Salthill.  Fresh from playing another starring role in Sunday’s Allianz National Hurling League final victory over Cork, Farragher is the second Galway Player of the Month award winner this year, following in the footsteps of February winner Iarla Tannian. An All Star from the 2005 season, when he played a star role as Galway advanced to their last All Ireland final, Farragher made his inter county debut in 2002 after a glittering underage career that saw him win two All Ireland minor titles on the trot with Galway in 1999 and 2000.

Congratulating both Player of the Month award winners, Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Criostóir Ó Cuana said, “Both Steven and Ger can be classed among the most stylish players in their codes. Stephen has served Armagh superbly over the years and so far this year his displays show that he is most definitely leading by example as captain. Likewise, Ger Farragher is one of the most stylish players in hurling and was hugely influential in getting Galway to this year’s league final.”

Also speaking at the awards, Vodafone Ireland Business& Enterprise Director, Anne O’Leary said that it was a pleasure to be able to pay tribute to two of the early season stars of 2010. “It is no surprise that both of today’s award winners made it to their respective league finals and no doubt we will be seeing plenty more of both as the championship progresses through the year. As ever, Vodafone is delighted to be associated with these awards and we wish both Steven and Ger the very best for the remainder of the season,” she said

Ends

For further information, contact:

Darina Sexton, Vodafone Press Office, 087 7753000
Eugene Hogan, FD, 087 2497290
Lisa Clancy, GAA Communications Office, 01 8363222

Wednesday, April 7th: Upcoming Clare star David Tubridy and Cork’s high-flying forward Pat Horgan today were the latest recipients of the GAA Player of the Month awards, sponsored by Vodafone, as they collected their March awards in football and hurling respectively,

The event also saw the Handballer of the Year Award presented to Cavan man and current World Champion Paul Brady, with the All-Ireland final referees in football and hurling, Sligo’s Marty Duffy and Cork’s Diarmuid Kirwan, respectively, receiving their Referee of the Year awards, also sponsored by Vodafone. 

Both Tubridy (23) and Horgan (20) are first time winners, with Tubridy’s selection largely attributable to his outstanding performance in scoring 1-11 (1-7 from play) out of a total of 1-13 as Clare took the scalp of Carlow in the fourth round of the Allianz GAA National Football League Division Four on March 21st. The stunning performance, which saw Tubridy score all of Clare’s first half total of 1-8, led to the young forward being likened by coach Liam McHale to former Kerry great Maurice Fitzgerald. Tubridy, who also scored five points against Longford in his final game in March, has been central to Clare’s 100% league success, which has seen them outright leaders of Division 4 of the league and destined for promotion, with the Doonbeg man clocking up a total of 1-31 from the five games over February and March.

Hurling Player of the Month winner Pat Horgan, meanwhile, has also been hugely prominent in the scoring stakes as Cork surged to the top of the table in March. The Glen Rovers clubman striking an impressive 1-12 from play as Cork secured two wins and a draw in March to leave them outright leaders of Division 1 at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, last year’s record breaking World Open Title Champion Paul Brady (30) deservedly collected the Handballer of the Year award at today’s event. Brady last year successfully defended his World Handball Championship title as he overcame injury to defeat Texan Allan Garner in Portland, Oregon last October. The victory gave Brady, who will this weekend play in the GAA Handball All-Ireland Senior Singles Final, a special place in the history of the game as he became the first player to win three titles in a row.

Today’s event also saw last year’s All Ireland football and hurling final referees Marty Duffy (Sligo) and Diarmuid Kirwan (Cork) honoured as Referee of the Year in their respective codes.
Congratulating the winners, Uachtarán Chumann Luthchleas Gael Criostóir O’Cuana said: “The Player of the Month awards gives due recognition to the stars of the moment in both football and hurling and, with regard to David Tubridy, it is extremely refreshing to see a young player from the lower divisions being rightly recognised for his outstanding displays. Similarly, we are delighted to be honouring Pat Horgan for his displays for Cork and, like David, he is one of the brightest young stars of the game and we look forward to many more outstanding performances from both. I also wish to congratulate one of the great ambassadors of our Association, Paul Brady, on his thoroughly deserved Handballer of the Year Award in recognition of his wonderful achievements at national and international level last year while the Referee of the Year awards are going to two of the very best in the business in Marty Duffy and Diarmuid Kirwan.”

Congratulating Paul Brady on his success, GAA Handball President Tony Hannon said: “With three World Titles back-to-back and six All-Ireland senior singles titles, Paul is already recognised as one of the greatest players of all time, not just here but internationally. He has been a fantastic ambassador for the game and the way he played through injury to claim last year’s World Title was a show of determination and bravery that none of us will forget.”

On behalf of sponsors Vodafone, Interim Head of Corporate Affairs Christine Heffernan said that just over two months into the season, 2010 is already promising to be a year to remember for GAA fans. “The Player of the Month awards is a wonderful way of acknowledging the best individual performances as the season takes shape and today, by all accounts, we are honouring two of the real stars of the future in David and Pat. It is also our privilege to present Paul Brady with his handball award and picking up three World Titles on the trot is a truly incredible achievement for any sportsman. Likewise, it is great to renew acquaintances with last year’s All-Ireland final referees Marty Duffy and Diarmuid Kirwan, both of whom were also part of the GAA All Stars tour last December.”

For further information, contact:
Darina Sexton, Vodafone Press Office, 087 7753000
Eugene Hogan, FD, 087 2497290
Lisa Clancy, GAA Communications Office, 01 8363222
Niamh Egan, Handball Association, Tel: 087 6442249

Dublin, Ireland – March 2, 2010 – Vodafone Ireland today announced it will launch iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G in Ireland on March 25 with a range of 3G tariff plans tailored for iPhone customers, supported by Ireland’s number-one network. iPhone 3G 8GB will be free for all qualifying upgrades and new customers on the Perfect Choice Access 500 and 700 plans (starting from €80 per month).

iPhone 3GS is the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet, packed with incredible new features including improved speed and performance - up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G - with longer battery life, a high-quality 3 megapixel autofocus camera, easy to use video recording and hands free voice control. The groundbreaking App Store provides access to more than 140,000 applications from games to social networking to financial planning and health management, generating more than 3 billion downloads to date. iPhone is now available in over 80 countries around the world.

"We are thrilled to offer iPhone and showcase its outstanding features on the country’s number-one network," said Vodafone Ireland CEO Charles Butterworth. "Vodafone’s 2.3 million Irish customers will enjoy great value with a range of compelling plans including free Vodafone-to-Vodafone calls and texts as well as 2GB of data per month across all plans."

Consumer pay monthly iPhone plans & costs

• All plans carry unlimited calls and text to Vodafone numbers.
• Pricing quoted include VAT

Consumer prepay iPhone plans & costs

Prices quoted include VAT
For further information or to register interest please visit www.vodafone.ie/iphone

ENDS

For further information:

Megan Stack, Drury – 086 1755531 megan.stack@drury.ie
Cara Twohig, Vodafone Ireland – 087 6887316 cara.twohig@vodafone.com

- Vodafone adds 35,000 new fixed and mobile customers and doubles its rate of growth in the fixed line market
- Vodafone is first to deploy 3.5G technology in Ireland

Thursday 4th February 2010:

Vodafone Group Plc today issued preliminary results for the quarter ended 31st December 2009. The following information relates to Vodafone Ireland's performance during the period and should be read in conjunction with the Group press release available here.

Vodafone Ireland remains Ireland’s leading total communications provider with 2.15 million mobile customers in the quarter ended 31st December 2009. The Company’s fixed line and DSL business stood at 186,000 at the end of the quarter, bringing Vodafone Ireland’s total telecoms base up to 2.33 million as at 31st December 2009.
Vodafone Ireland added 35,000 new customers across fixed and mobile representing the strongest organic new customer additions in any quarter since Vodafone became a total telecoms provider in December 2007. Vodafone also saw strong growth in its bill paying base which now stands at 869,000 customers.

The Company enjoyed strong momentum in postpay services in the last quarter with net customer additions of 20,000 driven by the success of Vodafone Simply and Wireless Office Control. Vodafone remained number one for prepay services with 1.46 million prepay customers on the network.

Vodafone continued to deliver on its fixed line DSL strategy with an increase of 9,000 customers in the quarter, nearly double the rate of growth in the previous quarter, highlighting the momentum behind Vodafone in the fixed line market. The Company also added over 11,000 mobile broadband customers in the quarter, bringing Vodafone’s total broadband base to 278,000. Vodafone is the second largest broadband provider in Ireland by a clear margin and is continuing to grow rapidly in the total broadband market.

Vodafone Ireland announces today that it is the first operator in Ireland to enable HSPA+, or 3.5G technology. The rollout has already commenced in Dublin and will extend to Cork and other major urban areas in the coming quarter. 3.5G technology will enable the network with a 21Mbps data download speed capability which will deliver a significantly enhanced mobile broadband experience to Vodafone’s customers.

Gerry Fahy, Strategy Director, Vodafone Ireland said: “The deployment of 3.5G or HSPA+ in Vodafone’s network confirms our position as Ireland’s leading mobile broadband provider. We are now pulling further ahead of our competitors by equipping the network with the highest available mobile broadband speeds of up to 21Mbps in Dublin and Cork as part of an ambitious upgrade plan to deliver the best service throughout the country. The evolution to 3.5G represents a significant coming of age for mobile broadband as users will be able to access a range of data intensive products and services and enjoy a high quality user experience. Vodafone also continues to lead in fixed line services with the recent launch of a 24Mbps Vodafone at Home package. Vodafone is the leading total telecoms provider offering a best in class communications experience to our customers.”

Vodafone Ireland’s customers maintained a steady consumption of voice minutes and texts in this quarter demonstrating how customers are recognising the value of the services despite the difficult economic climate. In the quarter ended 31st December 2009, Vodafone customers increased their voice minutes of use by 1.3% to 260 per customer and increased the number of texts they sent by 8.6% to 199 per customer, compared to the previous quarter. Vodafone Ireland’s customers’ consumption of voice minutes and texts remained higher than the Vodafone Europe average of 154 voice minutes and 90 text messages per customer for this quarter.

Total texts sent in the quarter increased by 18.8% to 1.27 billion while total voice minutes declined by 1.9% to 1.62 billion compared to the same quarter the previous year. Average mobile blended quarterly ARPU decreased by 7.7% to €37.40 in the same period.

“Vodafone has delivered value savings of 22% to existing customers in the last 12 months. We had a very strong Christmas period during which time we attracted an additional 35,000 customers to Vodafone,” said Gerry Fahy.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. In common industry terminology the HSPA+ standard is attributed a network download speed of 21Mbps however in practice the peak customer experience will be limited to ~ 75% of the design threshold after overheads and signalling are removed.
2. Vodafone recently launched a new portfolio of Vodafone at Home bundles offering broadband speeds of up to 24Mbps to residential customers. The Vodafone at Home offers includes connection, line rental, broadband up to 24Mbps, local and national landline calls and free calls to Vodafone Ireland mobile phones starting from €62 per month. Vodafone’s pay monthly customers can also benefit from prices starting at €56 per month.

For further information:
Christine Heffernan, Vodafone Ireland, Tel: 087 050 5555
Cara Twohig, Vodafone Ireland, Tel: 087 688 7316