Vodafone innovation unit split up

Vodafone have taken a surprising step just 6 months after creating the “Innovation Unit” and have reversed their strategy, which they set back in April 2006, and have now scraped the unit and parted with its international head, Thomas Geitner, who developed the Vodafone Live! mobile content platform four years ago.

This change has been reported as part of a resolution to improve overall operational performance following poor share price performances. Initially “the ‘New Business and Innovation Group’ was responsible for adopting Vodafone's "mobile plus" strategy and exploiting the arrival of convergence, including the possibility of offering broadband services over fixed-line”. However, these activities will be split between Vodafone’s group and marketing divisions, within its European operation run by the newly appointed deputy chief executive Vittorio Colao.