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<keyword id="105731" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vittorio-Colao">Vittorio Colao</keyword>, CEO of <keyword id="15492" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vodafone">Vodafone</keyword> Group Plc, said Idea and Vodafone employees don’t have to worry about their jobs, post the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/idea-to-merge-with-vodafone-india-time-to-say-hello-to-indias-biggest-telco/articleshow/57728557.cms">merger of Idea and Vodafone</a> India.<br />
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"I can assure you of the group's (read: Vodafone Group Plc's) commitment to the success of the merger and to creating greater professional opportunities for our Indian colleagues," <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Vodafone-CEO-Vittorio-Colao-says-preparing-for-IPO-of-India-unit-no-timeline-set/articleshow/49352146.cms">Colao</a> wrote in an email to <keyword id="6354923" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vodafone-India">Vodafone India</keyword> employees Monday.<br />
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<strong>Also read:</strong> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Top-CEOs-Work-Crazy-Hours-Even-On-Normal-Days/articleshow/21200896.cms">Top CEOs Work Crazy Hours Even On Normal Days</a><br />
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Colao added he was convinced of the role that the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/idea-vodafone-merger-dips-idea-stocks-by-15/articleshow/57729612.cms">merger</a> would play for "Vodafone India teams to take part in building a truly impressive company."<br />
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"I count on all of you to focus on strengthening Vodafone India in the coming months and in winning in the highly competitive Indian environment," the mail added.<br />
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<strong>Also read:</strong> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/politics/Vodafone-CEO-Holds-Talks-With-Ravi-Shankar-Prasad-On-Digital-India/articleshow/46117151.cms">Vodafone CEO Holds Talks With Ravi Shankar Prasad On 'Digital India'</a><br />
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He also talked about the new entity, saying that it would "benefit from the strength of both brands, based on an identity and brand strategy, which will be defined in detail in closing," and that it would have the scale required to "ensure consumer choice in a competitive market, a large spectrum portfolio to deliver fast mobile broadband and to expand new technologies such as mobile money services, that have the potential to transform daily life for every Indian."<br />
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Idea’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/careers/entrepreneurship/IIM-A-shortlisted-K-M-Birla-forthe-post-of-chairman/articleshow/54625345.cms">Kumar Mangalam Birla</a>, who is the chairman-designate of the merged entity, also said that the group doesn’t plan to do any significant downsizing post the merger.<br />
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<em>(Image source: The Irish Times)</em><br />
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Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao assures employee job safety post Vodafone-Idea merger

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=vodafone">Vodafone </a>India <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Sunil+Sood">CEO Sunil </a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Sunil+Sood">Sood</a>’s recent comments over the call drops seems to have snubbed the government officials. Sood, off lately had said that "The (<keyword id="6354776" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Telecom">telecom</keyword>) minister's and secretary's comments don't count as the view of the entire government".<br />
<br /> The matter has now been raised with the company (<keyword id="15492" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vodafone">Vodafone</keyword>) says an Economic Times report.<br />
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A senior DoT official told ET, "Senior officials in the government have taken a note of his (Sood's) comments and we have taken up the matter with them (Vodafone). It was for the first time a senior executive has challenged the government's authority."<br />
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The official further said that Vodafone had said the comment "wasn't meant like it sounded". The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Ravi+Shankar+Prasad">Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad</a>, however, denied making any comments on the matter.<br />
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A senior <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=DoT+">DoT </a>official has also "had a stern word" with officials at the <keyword id="105151" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cellular-Operators-Association-of-India">Cellular Operators Association of India</keyword> (COAI), the GSM industry lobby group, on the matter. Rajan Mathews, the director general of COAI, didn't respond to any queries and also declined to make any comment.<br />
The response the telecom operator gave on Sunday didn’t addressed any specific queries by ET. In fact, it emerged as a damage control as it paid tribute to the minster and the secretary.<br />
<br /> "We take this opportunity to once again thank the Hon'ble Union Minister for Communication &amp; IT, Shri <keyword id="6354886" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ravi-Shankar-Prasad">Ravi Shankar Prasad</keyword> and the Secretary DoT, Shri Rakesh Garg for working together with the industry and other stakeholders in actualising the PM's dream of Digital India," the company said in its email to ET.<br />
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"Both the Hon'ble Minister and the Secretary DoT, are cognizant of the macro and micro issues facing the telecom industry, the resolution of which will go a long way in realising the potential of mobile technology to address some of India's most pressing challenges in the areas of education, health, inclusion, governance, equality and access," the mail further said.<br />
<br /> <keyword id="958297" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sunil-Sood">Sunil Sood</keyword>, who took over as the telco’s India CEO in April questioned the authority of <keyword id="46149" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Telecom-minister">Telecom Minister</keyword> and Telecom Secretary while reacting to a comment that the duo had asked for penalties to be imposed on telcos for bad call quality.<br />
<br /> As per the officials, Vodafone Group CEO <keyword id="105731" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vittorio-Colao">Vittorio Colao</keyword> had sought an appointment to meet the minister in October and the Sood’s comments would be taken up then.<br />
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In a statement, Vodafone said, "The DoT has taken out clear guidelines for installation of mobile towers. Unfortunately, the state and local governments are not implementing it uniformly."<br />
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"The Hon'ble Minister has led by example to dispel the myths around EMF by addressing the issue in the public domain. He has also prudently taken it up with the urban development ministry to allow for cell sites to be installed on government buildings. Similarly, the Secretary DoT too personally intervened to support the telecom industry when cell sites were being sealed or disabled in NCR."<br />
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Telecom operators and the government have increasingly found themselves at odds over call drops. While top telcos have publicly said that they were not to be blamed or criticized for not helping the government in installation of more towers, the telecom department, on the other hand, has chided the companies for not looking to actively resolve the issue. The remark by Sood could also affect the apparent detente in Vodafone-government relations.<br />
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British parent Vodafone Group Plc is involved in international arbitration with the government to resolve its eight year-old, Rs 20,000 crore tax disputes. Ties between the two parties had seemingly improved, with reconciliatory noises being made by both sides.<br />
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Vodafone has in the past praised the country's political leadership and spoken about the government's intent to resolve the tax issue. The government had, in January, decided against appealing a court order that went in favor of Vodafone to avoid "fruitless litigation" and allay investor concerns on tax issues. The dispute pertained to a Rs 3,200 crore tax demand in a transfer-pricing case. <br />

Vodafone India CEO’s comments over Ravi Shankar Prasad raises concern

<br /> <keyword id="15492" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vodafone">Vodafone</keyword> Global Head <keyword id="105731" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vittorio-Colao">Vittorio Colao</keyword> has said that he is not worried about competition from <keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword>'s <keyword id="6354504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword>, which is likely to start 4G services soon. He was also optimistic about the Indian market following the change of government at the Centre.<br />
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Talking about Reliance's 4G services and the competition it may post to Vodafone, which did not bid for 4G licence, Colao said the company was seeing significant growth in 3G data services. "I wish Reliance all success and I am not worried by its entry. We will be good competitors. You can already do most things on 3G... our commercial success proves, we are right (in our strategy)."<br />
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"I am less schizophrenic now. I am more optimistic," he said, however, he also added that the political will needs to translate into action soon. On being asked whether Vodafone would enter into an agreement with the government on the issue of tax, he said, "You can never rule out anything in an arbitration process because it is a mechanism for finding a private solution to the dispute. So, nothing can be ruled out."<br />
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It’s interesting to note that Vodafone is facing a tax liability of more than Rs 11,000 crore in India.<br />

We Are Not Not Worried About RIL’s 4G Call: Vodafone Global Head

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters/Denis Balibouse</span></p><p class="caption">Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Group, gestures as he speaks during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 25, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Long-serving Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao is to step down in October this year.</strong></li><li><strong>He will be succeeded by the telecoms firm's current chief financial officer, Nick Read.</strong></li><li><strong>The announcement of Colao's departure comes less than a week after Vodafone <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/john-malone-liberty-global-vodafone-deal-2018-5">announced a $22 billion deal with Liberty Global.</a></strong></li></ul><p><br />LONDON -Vodafone announced on Tuesday that <a href="https://www.investegate.co.uk/vodafone-group-plc--vod-/rns/board-announces-group-chief-executive-succession/201805150703020432O/">long-serving CEO </a><a href="https://www.investegate.co.uk/vodafone-group-plc--vod-/rns/board-announces-group-chief-executive-succession/201805150703020432O/">Vittorio Colao will step down later this year.</a></p><p>Colao, who has been at the helm of the British-based firm for a decade, will stand down in October and will be replaced by Nick Read, Vodafone's current finance director. No reason was given for Colao's departure.</p><p>"Vittorio will leave as his legacy a company of great integrity with strong inclusive values that is exceptionally well-positioned for the decade ahead," Vodafone's chairman Gerard Kleisterlee said in a statement.</p><p>Colao's legacy includes pulling the company out of the USA by abandoning a joint venture with American telecoms giant Verizon and striking <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/john-malone-liberty-global-vodafone-deal-2018-5">a $22 billion deal with the world's biggest international TV and broadband company, Liberty Global.</a></p><p>That deal was only announced last Wednesday, and if approved by competition authorities, will see Vodafone take control of Liberty Global's operations in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania. Liberty Global is controlled through voting rights by US billionaire John Malone, the media and telecoms executive <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/john-malone/">nicknamed the "cable cowboy"</a> due to his extensive TV and telecoms dealmaking activity in the 1990s.</p><p>The Vodafone-Liberty Global deal comes during a flurry of activity in the telecoms and media industry. Comcast is currently <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/comcast-takes-on-21st-century-fox-with-22-billion-sky-takeover-bid-2018-4">locked in a bidding war with 21st Century Fox for European pay-TV group Sky</a> and Comcast is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-exclusive-comcast-prepares-all-cash-bid-to-gate-crash-disney-fox-deal-sources-2018-5">said to be considering gate-crashing Fox's transaction with Disney.</a></p><p>Vodafone runs internet and mobile businesses across 25 countries, including the UK and India. The company has over 500 million mobile customers globally and close to 20 million broadband customers.</p><p>Alongside the announcement of Colao's departure, <a href="https://www.investegate.co.uk/vodafone-group-plc--vod-/rns/final-results/201805150700080431O/">the firm released a solid set of financial results</a>, reporting a 1.4% rise in organic service revenue for its fourth quarter, beating analyst forecasts of a 1.1% rise.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rick-rieder-blackrock-yield-income-dividend-inflation-china-risk-2018-4">BlackRock's $1.8 trillion bond chief says Wall Street is looking at the wrong thing when it comes to the yield curve</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Vodafone's CEO announces his departure less than a week after making $22 billion deal with 'cable cowboy' John Malone

Looks like <keyword id="15492" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vodafone">Vodafone</keyword> and Idea are in a hurry to get their <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/idea-to-merge-with-vodafone-india-time-to-say-hello-to-indias-biggest-telco/articleshow/57728557.cms">merger</a> formalities completed soon. This is probably the reason why Vittorio Colao (<keyword id="137231" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vodafone-group">Vodafone Group</keyword> CEO) and Kumar Mangalam Birla (chairman of the <keyword id="44373" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aditya-Birla-Group">Aditya Birla Group</keyword>) are believed to have met PM Modi.<br />
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<strong>Also read:</strong> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/voda-idea-merger-expected-to-benefit-telecom-industry-say-experts/articleshow/57750315.cms">Voda-Idea merger expected to benefit telecom industry, say experts</a><br />
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In the meeting that lasted 45 minutes approx, the heads of both groups are believed to have informed the PM about the details and reasons behind the merger. They also sought help from the government regarding faster clearances so that the deal can be concluded rapidly.<br />
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Along with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/vodafone-ceo-vittorio-colao-assures-employee-job-safety-post-vodafone-idea-merger/articleshow/57733717.cms">Colao</a> and Birla, the meeting also saw <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/vodafoneindia-just-partnered-with-amazon-prime-video/articleshow/57717680.cms">Vodafone India</a> MD Sunil Sood, company director P Balaji, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/idea-vodafone-merger-dips-idea-stocks-by-15/articleshow/57729612.cms">Idea Cellular</a> MD Himanshu Kapania, sources told ET.<br />
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Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/telecom-experts-think-jio-could-still-beat-voda-idea-in-short-term/articleshow/57768335.cms">Telecom experts think Jio could still beat Voda-Idea in short term</a><br />
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The merger between Vodafone and Idea will lead to the creation of India’s biggest telecom company, displacing <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/airtel-speeds-past-jio-and-others-as-indias-fastest-network/articleshow/57429981.cms">Bharti Airtel</a> from its position that it has held for 15 years.<br />
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<em>(Image source: Bloomberg Quint)</em>

Idea and Vodafone heads met Modi and sought speedy clearances for merger

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/license/545323946">Drew Angerer/Getty Images</a></span></p><p class="caption">John Malone, businessman and former chief executive of Tele-Communications Inc., attends the annual Allen &amp; Company Sun Valley Conference, July 7, 2016 in Sun Valley, Idaho.</p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul><li><strong>Vodafone is buying Liberty Global's operations in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania for €18.4 billion ($21.7 billion).</strong></li><li><strong>The deal will give Vodafone a much larger mobile and broadband footprint in central and eastern Europe.</strong></li><li><strong>The transaction still needs to be cleared by competition regulators.</strong></li></ul><p><br />LONDON - British telecoms group Vodafone has reached a €18.4 billion ($21.7 billion) deal to buy a range of European assets from <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/john-malone-cable-cowboy-powerful-person-media-2017-7">billionaire "cable cowboy" John Malone.</a></p><p>Vodafone <a href="https://www.investegate.co.uk/vodafone-group-plc--vod-/rns/vodafone-liberty-global-transaction/201805090719424664N/">announced on Wednesday</a> that it has agreed to acquire Liberty Global's operations in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania. The deal consists of €10.8 billion ($12.7 billion) in cash paid to Liberty Global and €7.6 billion ($8.9 billion) of existing debt that Vodafone will take on.</p><p>Liberty Global is controlled through voting rights by US billionaire John Malone, the <keyword id="6354777" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Media">media</keyword> and telecoms executive <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/john-malone/">nicknamed the "cable cowboy"</a> due to his extensive TV and telecoms dealmaking activity in the 1990s.</p><p>Malone, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/john-malone/">who is worth over $7 billion</a>, is also the chairman of Liberty Media in the US, which owns Formula 1 racing and Major League Baseball team the Atlanta Braves. Malone was said to be the driving force behind <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/business/dealbook/john-malone-charter-cable.html">Charter Communications' $67 billion acquisition of Time Warner in 2016.</a></p><p>Liberty Global is the world's biggest international TV and broadband company, operating through brands such as Virgin Media in the UK, Unitymedia in Germany, and Telenet in Belgium. The group also has investments in UK TV producer ITV, film studio LionsGate, and Formula E racing.</p><p>The deal, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/aa094110-082c-11e8-9650-9c0ad2d7c5b5">which was first rumoured in February</a>, will supercharge Vodafone's cable internet and mobile telecoms footprint in central and Eastern Europe. Unitymedia, which Vodafone will acquire, is Germany's second-largest cable operator.</p><p>Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao said in a statement that the deal is "a transformative combination for Vodafone that will generate significant value for shareholders."</p><p>"We are committed to accelerating and deepening investment in next-generation mobile and fixed networks, building on Vodafone's track record of ensuring that customers benefit from the choice of a strong and sustainable challenger to dominant incumbent operators," he said.</p><p>British group Vodafone runs internet and mobile businesses across 25 countries, including the UK and India. The company has over 500 million mobile customers globally and close to 20 million broadband customers.</p><p>Calao said: "Vodafone will become Europe's leading next generation network owner, serving the largest number of mobile customers and households across the EU."</p><p>The deal is still subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the middle of next year. <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/vodafone-stock">Vodafone shares rose by 1.6%</a> on news of the deal.</p><p>Liberty Global <a href="http://www.libertyglobal.com/pdf/press-release/Liberty-Global-to-Sell-Operations-in-Germany-Hungary-Romania-and-the-Czech-Republic-to-Vodafone.pdf">said in a separate statement</a> that the assets being sold represent 28% of the operating cash flow of the group.</p><p>Liberty said it would still be Europe's biggest cable TV and broadband provider after the transaction, with 26 million subscribers across the continent.</p><p>Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries said in a statement: "In each of these markets, the combination of Liberty Global and Vodafone's businesses will transform the competitive landscape and bring a new level of convergence to customers.</p><p>"Now more than ever, Europe needs strong competition from scaled national challengers willing and able to invest in next-generation wireless, video and broadband services."</p><p>Morgan Stanley, Robey Warshaw, and UBS advised Vodafone on the deal. LionTree and Goldman Sachs advised Liberty Global.</p><p>The Vodafone-Liberty Global deal comes during a flurry of activity in the telecoms and media industry. Comcast is currently <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/comcast-takes-on-21st-century-fox-with-22-billion-sky-takeover-bid-2018-4">locked in a bidding war with 21st Century Fox for European pay-TV group Sky</a> and Comcast is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-exclusive-comcast-prepares-all-cash-bid-to-gate-crash-disney-fox-deal-sources-2018-5">said to be considering gate-crashing Fox's transaction with Disney.</a></p><p>Liberty Global also agreed to sell its Austrian unit to Deutsche Telekom for €1.9 billion ($2.2 billion) last December.</p><p class="tagline"><a href="http://read.bi/future-of-media"></a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/socially-responsible-investing-esg-risk-management-tool-2018-5">How socially responsible investing can help you avoid catastrophic drops within your portfolio</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Billionaire 'cable cowboy' John Malone's Liberty Global is selling $22 billion of European assets to Vodafone

<p class="p1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Google's chairman and ex-CEO Eric Schmidt was asked about the future of the web during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.</p>
<p class="p2"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">"I will answer very simply that the internet will disappear," Schmidt replied.</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">"There will be so many IP addresses… so many devices, sensors, things that you are wearing, things that you are interacting with that you won't even sense it. It will be part of your presence all the time. Imagine you walk into a room, and the room is dynamic. And with your permission and all of that, you are interacting with the things going on in the room."</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Schmidt is referring to the so-called "Internet of Things," where internet-enabled devices from phones to watches to thermostats and lightbulbs are increasingly programmed to be able to work on their own, for efficiency's sake. Schmidt believes our interactions with these devices will eventually be totally seamless.</span></p>
<p class="p2"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">During the panel, called "The Future of the Digital Economy." Schmidt also discussed Google's dominance in the search market, and the increased competition in the smartphone business, declaring "all bets are off" due to the new players in the market. Schmidt was joined on stage by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao.</span></p>

GOOGLE CHIEF: 'The Internet Will Disappear'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Here's yet another sign of Snapchat's meteoric success.</p><p>In the UK, Snapchat accounts for 75% of all instant messaging data, according to the CEO of mobile carrier Vodafone. <a href="http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/vodafone-snapchat-facebook-mobile/">We first spotted the stat on Digital Trends.</a></p><p>Here's what Vodafone chief Vittorio Colao said on the company's <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/3196666-vodafone-groups-vod-ceo-vittorio-colao-on-q4-2014-results-earnings-call-transcript?all=true&amp;find=vodafone">most recent earnings call last week</a>:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">I couldn't believe my eyes when I heard the statistics from the UK. In the UK, if you take all the messaging apps, so Facebook, WhatsApp, whatever, Google, whatever, 75% of the traffic today is Snapchat which means that the upload and the different way of communicating is actually stimulating a lot of usage. Which is why we're convinced that this - our strategy was right in going into bundling mobile and video.</p><p>It could be that Snapchat users are using so much data compared with its competitors because the app is designed to send data-heavy videos and photos. While you can send and view videos and photos on other messaging apps, it's not a pre-requisite of their services. Nevertheless, it is another usage metric to measure Snapchat's success versus messaging rivals. Snapchat may only have around <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/snapchats-monthly-active-users-may-be-nearing-200-million-2014-12">200 million users</a> to <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/102533982">Facebook Messenger's 600 million</a> and <a href="http://www.cnet.com/news/whatsapp-touts-800m-monthly-active-users/">WhatsApp's 800 million</a> (also owned by Facebook,) but it looks like Snapchat users might be a lot more active.</p><p><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/snapchat-launches-new-discovery-feature-2015-1?r=US">In January, Snapchat launched its "Discover" section</a>, where media partners such as Vice and Comedy Central share videos and photos designed to be on the app for 24 hours before disappearing. TechCrunch reported in March that Snapchat users' average smartphone data use <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/02/new-data-shows-mobile-data-consumption-skyrocketing-following-snapchat-discovers-launch/">skyrocketed from around 100 to 150 megabytes per week pre-Discover launch to nearly 400 megabytes per week afterwards</a>.</p><p>Vodafone's says Snapchat data consumption has grown 260% in the past six months. While, initially, heavy data usage from customers costs mobile carriers to invest in the infrastructure to support it, over the long-term it can drive up the average revenue they receive from each customer.</p><p>And with mobile video usage continuing to grow, Vodafone will be hoping it will be able to upgrade more customers to faster, more expensive 4G data plans. A cohort analysis, which Vodafone used in its <a href="http://www.vodafone.com/content/dam/vodafone/investors/financial_results_feeds/preliminary_results_31march2015/p_prelim2015.pdf">presentation to investors during its earnings call last week</a>, shows the value of data to the company. 4G is adding at least £1 ($1.54) in revenue per user. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The majority of Snapchat users are aged between 18 and 34-years-old and, if Vodafone's data is anything to go by, they are heavy users of the app: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-launches-2-cents-video-ads-2015-5">An ideal medium on which to sell advertising.</a></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/record-snapchats-without-sender-knowing-screen-shot-2015-3">It's dangerously easy to record Snapchats without the other person knowing</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="UzdDQ2dDpXqPQ1PVQbWkBa1cXz3Nz58E" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Here's one sign that Snapchat is dominating Facebook and Google when it comes to instant messaging

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Jim Edwards" title_caption="Sheryl Sandberg, Eric Schmidt and Satya Nadella at Davos" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54c13e5bdd089506728b4581-960/20150122_174831.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Jim Edwards</span></p><p class="caption">Sheryl Sandberg, Eric Schmidt and Satya Nadella at Davos</p></div><p></p></div></div>Google chairman Eric Schmidt suggested today that Google's dominance - in both search and mobile device operating systems - is under threat from a new set of players intent on reordering the tech business.</p>
<p>He was speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on a panel with Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.</p>
<p>Schmidt was asked about the "dominance" of certain major companies, such as Facebook, Google and Apple who between them control the vast majority of the web and mobile internet. The context is that Google is under investigation by the EU into whether its search engine counts as a "monopoly." Some regulators have suggested breaking up the company. Google has a roughly 90% share of the search market in Europe and its Android product has an up to an 80% share of the mobile device operating system market for phones, worldwide.</p>
<p>And while Schmidt's answer wasn't exactly an admission that Google is going to crumble anytime soon, it did echo the thinking of some in the tech business who have noticed that smaller, specialist companies have begun slicing off niche chunks of Google's core business, or developing new search areas that Google has no access to. Both Facebook and Apple have search products for instance. (Facebook has its own internal search algorithm and Apple's App Store has a search function that powers its multi-billion app discovery process.)</p>
<p>"On the question  of dominance, you now see so many strong tech platforms coming through and you're seeing a reordering, and a future reordering, of the leaders because of the rise of the app on the smartphone.  ... all bets are off. We have a whole new set of players," he said.</p>
<p>The major question for the future, he said, was, "What are the apps that people are going to use? ... I view that as a completely open market at this point."</p>
<p>His point is that new players can come from nowhere and create seemingly massive businesses from nothing in a matter of months. Two recent examples are the workplace chat product Slack - recently valued at $1 billion after only being in existence for 8 months - and Snapchat, which in just a couple of years has come to dominate certain types of messaging, particularly among young people.</p>
<p>Whether any such app might seriously damage Google is being openly discussed by investors. A recent analysts' note from Baird Equity Research suggested Google was losing some of its "mojo" to competitors. It said:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The biggest pushback we hear from investors is that Google's core search advertising business will not translate (monetise) as well to an increasingly mobile-centric, application-based world, particularly compared to mobile-first peers like Facebook. We do not discount Facebook's progress in mobile (mobile was 63% of total ad revenue through 3Q14 vs. ~12% of revenues in 2012), and with the continued rollout of a third-party ad network (with Atlas ) in 2015, Facebook will more directly compete with Google's AdSense as it ventures into monetisation opportunities outside of the Facebook platform.</p>

Eric Schmidt Just Admitted Google's Dominance Is Under Threat: 'All Bets Are Off'

<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source">Business Insider Video</p></div>It's not news that many <keyword id="6407546" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="CEOs">CEOs</keyword> <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/executives-who-get-up-early-2013-1#">wake up extremely early.</a> The pressure of the job makes it one of the only  ways to keep up and still get in a minimum of exercise, family, or personal time. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/apr/01/what-time-ceos-start-day">The Guardian spoke to some top CEOs</a>, who revealed that the definition of work-life balance for CEOs is pretty far off from what most of us would consider reasonable.</p>
<p>The reward for making it to the top seems to be more, not less work. </p>
<p>Below are some typical schedules when they're at home and things are as close to normal as they get. But the life of a CEO is also full of travel and corporate crises, which are likely to stretch many days even further. </p>
<p>AOL CEO Tim Armstrong <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/apr/01/what-time-ceos-start-day">wakes up around 5 a.m.</a>, is out of the house and working from his car by 7 a.m., and works until 7 p.m. He used to start sending emails immediately after waking up, but now restrains himself until 7 a.m.</p>
<p>Weekends are family time, but he's back at it again after 7 p.m. on Sundays. </p>
<p>Helena Morrissey, CEO of Newton Investment, gets up "at <span>5 in the morning, sometimes earlier," and immediately starts sending emails until her kids get up. She has family dinner scheduled at 7:30 p.m., but works again after that, sometimes for as much as two hours, prepping for the next morning's meetings.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/apr/01/what-time-ceos-start-day">is up at 6 a.m.</a>, exercises for 40 minutes, then works nearly continuously until 10:45 p.m., pausing for family dinner. </span></p>
<p><span>He exercises for four hours on weekends, then preps for his work week in between spending time with his wife and children. </span></p>
<p>That's in line with other famous CEOs, like GE's Jeff Immelt, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/executives-who-get-up-early-2013-1#ge-ceo-jeff-immelt-1">who's up at 5:30,</a> or GM's Dan Akerson, who rarely makes it past 4:30 or 5 a.m. before he gets up and starts calling Asia.</p>
<p>Some take it even further. Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne runs businesses based on two different continents. When he's in America, he <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/executives-who-get-up-early-2013-1#fiat-and-chrysler-ceo-sergio-marchionne-3">gets up at 3:30 a.m.</a> to start dealing with Europe. </p>
<p><span>Being CEO is the goal of many driven business professionals. They should keep the tradeoffs in mind. </span></p>

Top CEOs Work Crazy Hours Even On Normal Days

<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div>The so-called summer camp for billionaires kicks off this week, as tech and entertainment industry moguls convene in Sun Valley, Idaho for the annual Allen &amp; Co conference. </span></p><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Among those invited to this year's gathering are Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Tesla founder Elon Musk. Media moguls such as Barry Diller, Rupert Murdoch and John Malone are all regular attendees.</span></p><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The event features several days of talks about business and the economy, all of which are off-limits to the press, as well as extra-curricular activities such as rafting and golf. </span></p><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">But the real action comes in the meetings, power lunches, and general chit-chat the moguls engage in between the formal sessions, which often provide the foundation to mega deals. These deals usually don't materialize until weeks or months later, which is why an army of reporters armed with telephoto-lenses stalk the area, diligently snapping pics of what could be the next blockbuster deal.</span></p><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Often the photos prove nothing more than the fact that Executive A had lunch with Executive B. But with so many high-powered execs in attendance (not to mention the fact that the event is hosted by an investment bank eager to broker big corporate marriages that pay big fees), it's inevitable that some of these encounters lead to deals. </span></p><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Here's a recap of some of the biggest deals that have been hatched at the conference over the years. </span></p><h2 class="p1"><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">AOL/Verizon </span></strong></h2><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div>The seeds to one of 2015's most high-profile acquisitions were planted in July 2014 in Sun Valley.</span></p><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> It was there that AOL CEO Tim Armstrong and Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam had lunch together and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-tim-armstrong-sold-aol-for-44-billion-2015-5">started talking about "the way the world was going."</a> </span></p><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Those discussions progressed over the fall, culminating with the May announcement that AOL was selling to Verizon for $4.4 million. The combination could help telecommunications giant Verizon become a bigger player in mobile and video advertising. </span></p><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">As for AOL, hopefully this deal will turn out better than the last big combination it sketched out at Sun Valley: the ill-fated 1999 merger with Time Warner.</span></p><h2 class="p1"><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Comcast/NBC Universal</span></strong></h2><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div>Cable company Comcast morphed into a media goliath in 2011 when it acquired a majority stake in entertainment company NBC Universal. </span></p><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The deal involved months of negotiations but a key moment occurred during a secret meeting at a condo near the ninth hole of a Sun Valley golf course in 2009. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/business/media/03nbc.html">According to a report in the New York Times</a>, Jeff Immelt, the CEO of GE (which owned NBC at the time), met with Comcast COO Steve Burke and Comcast's 89-year-old founder Ralph Roberts. </span></p><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Immelt had already met with Roberts' son Brian, who was the CEO of Comcast, but he wanted to hear from the elder Roberts as well. The secret rendezvous required that Immelt dodge not only the gaggle of reporters armed with telephoto lens cameras, but even his own colleague, NBC CEO Jeff Zucker, who was also at the conference but was not privy to the deal talks.</span></p><h2 class="p1"><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Jeff Bezos/Washington Post</span></strong></h2><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div>In August 2013, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos surprised the world by announcing that he had acquired the Washington Post for $250 million. </span></p><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">One month earlier, Bezos had two three-hour meetings with Post Chairman Donald Graham at Sun Valley, <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324653004578650390383666794">according to the Wall Street Journal.</a> </span></p><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The meetings were not completely spontaneous. Allen &amp; Co, the boutique investment bank which hosts the conference, had been hired by Graham to broker a deal and had reached out to Bezos months earlier. But the casual atmosphere of Sun Valley may have helped things go smoothly. "I named a price and Jeff agreed to pay it," <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-washingtonpost-bezos-deal-idUSBRE97412920130805">Graham later told Reuters.</a></span></p><h2 class="p1"><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Disney/ABC</span></strong></h2><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div>One of the largest deals ever when it was announced in 1995, Disney's $19 billion acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC created a media and entertainment powerhouse and put Sun Valley on the map as the destination for headline-grabbing acquisitions. </span></p><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The talks began when Disney's then-CEO Michael Eisner bumped into investor Warren Buffett at the conference, according to the New York Times. Eisner asked Buffett's opinion about whether Disney and ABC should "do something together." Buffett apparently liked the idea and suggested that Eisner talk to Capital Cities/ABC Chairman Thomas Murphy. The three then had a brief chat which set the ball rolling for serious deal talks that took place in the weeks ahead. </span></p><p class="tagline">Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/prevent-blisters-jogging-running-shoes-sneakers-athletic-shoelace-hole-2015-5">Someone figured out the purpose of the extra shoelace hole on your running shoes - and it will blow your mind</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="lyNnMwdToPHeoBdqEnriXIBVrqyIR6er" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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