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Vodafone and Toshiba announce strategic 3G handset partnership
March 10, 2005;
Vodafone, similarly like many other operators, is deeply dissapointed by Nokia, so no wonder the desire to omit that Finnish evildoer (that by now was pushing stupidly 3G phones without videotelephony) and to cooperate with Asian vendors...

Vodafone and Toshiba today announced a strategic partnership to market a range of exclusive 3G handsets in Europe, Australia, Japan and New Zealand. Building on their partnership in Japan, where Toshiba is one of the leading suppliers of handsets to Vodafone KK, this expanded relationship marks Toshiba's entrance into the European mobile phone market.

The companies will work together to market a range of exclusive 3G handsets starting in the second quarter of 2005. The first handset to be made available under the new relationship is the Vodafone TS 921, a high tier multi-functional, tri-band device complete with a 1.9 Megapixel camera with auto focus.

Peter Bamford, Chief Marketing Officer of Vodafone said: "Toshiba is one of the largest electronics manufacturers in the world and a significant player in the Japanese mobile market. By building on our existing relationship and experience with Toshiba in Japan, as well as our existing partnerships with some of the world's leading handset manufacturers, we can offer our customers an even greater range of exclusive Vodafone live! with 3G enabled handsets."

Chikahiro Yokota, Corporate Vice President, President and CEO for Toshiba Corporation's Mobile Communications Company, one of Toshiba's in-house companies said: "Vodafone's commitment to making 3G a reality across the world makes them an ideal partner for Toshiba as we enter the 3G handset market."

The Vodafone TS 921 will be on show on the Toshiba and Vodafone stands at CeBIT in Hannover, starting 10 March 2005.

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