Vodafone Cut Costs by Pulling Sports Sponsorships

Vodafone wasn’t quite ready for the information overload that the smartphone revolution brought to consumers. In late 2010, it got a slew of complaints and it lost a half million folks by the end of 2011 because of it, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

That let them with seven million consumers, a number that Vodaphone would clearly like to increase. So it has decided to pull some of its money out of marketing and throw it back into building a better network and creating better customer service.

Vodafone is not re-upping its 11-year sponsorship of the Australian cricket team and also ending its six-year relationship with V8 Supercars. Cricket Australia and Triple 8 Racing Engineering are seeking sponsors as a result of the telco's decision.

The company is also saving money following a decision by Telfonica and Vodafone “to extend their existing network sharing deal to create one single national grid,” according to Telecoms.com. This could help save “at least 25 percent of their network costs,” the site notes.

“Over the three years from now until 2015 when both parties expect to achieve 98 per cent indoor population coverage across 2G and 3G, the combined potential savings would be in excess of £600 million ($926 million),” analyst Emeka Obiodu commented.

Vodafone, which is also battling to turn around its reputation, also just signed a deal with Optus to form a mobile broadband joint venture in Australia.