UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULES 13a-16 OR 15d-16 UNDER
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Dated
October 8, 2024
Commission
File Number: 001-10086
VODAFONE GROUP
PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY
(Translation
of registrant’s name into English)
VODAFONE
HOUSE, THE CONNECTION, NEWBURY, BERKSHIRE, RG14 2FN,
ENGLAND
(Address
of principal executive offices)
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual
reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form
20-F ✓
Form 40-F _
This
Report on Form 6-K contains a Stock Exchange Announcement dated 8
October 2024 entitled ‘Vodafone & Google Deepen Strategic
Partnership’.
08 OCTOBER 2024
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Vodafone and Google Deepen Strategic Partnership with Ten Year,
Billion+ Dollar Deal including Cloud, Cybersecurity and Devices
Across Europe and Africa
Partnership aims to bring new generative AI (gen AI) powered
devices through Google's Gemini models to millions of Vodafone's
customers across Europe and Africa
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Vodafone
will expand access to Google's AI-powered Pixel devices with its
fast 5G network in Europe, and continue promoting the Android
ecosystem.
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Vodafone
TV aims to become even more personalised and engaging, with
improved content search and recommendations using Google Cloud's
gen AI across its set top boxes, with a view to rolling out
advertising using Google Ad Manager in the future.
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Companies
intend to enable Vodafone to offer Google One AI Premium
subscription plans, which include Gemini Advanced, in select
territories by 2025.
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Vodafone
to expand its partnership with Google Cloud, building on its
existing private data repository, and will use Google Cloud's
Vertex AI enterprise-ready AI platform to quickly bring new
services and innovation to Vodafone's customers.
●
Vodafone
will develop a new cloud-native security service for its business
customers leveraging Google Cloud's Security Operations
platform.
Vodafone and Google today announced a ten year strategic expansion
of their existing partnership to bring new services, devices, and
TV experiences to millions of Vodafone's customers across Europe
and Africa, supported by Google Cloud and Google's Gemini
models.
The agreement will bring storage, security, and AI assistance to
Vodafone's customers in 15 countries, as well as its partners in an
additional 45 markets worldwide, while Google will use Vodafone's
fixed and mobile connectivity services to improve workforce
productivity.
Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group chief executive,
said: "Together, Vodafone and Google
will put new AI-powered content and devices into the hands of
millions of more consumers. Using these services, our customers can
discover new ways to learn, create and communicate, as well as
consume TV, on a scale we haven't seen before."
"Our expanded partnership with Vodafone will help bring our most
advanced AI products and services, including our Gemini models, to
more people across Europe and Africa," said
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet.
"I'm excited to see how Vodafone's consumers, small businesses and
governments, will use generative AI and Google Cloud to transform
the way they work and access information."
Leading the Way in Enhanced Consumer Experiences
A key focus of the Vodafone and Google partnership is to help
consumers take advantage of the latest hardware and digital
technologies, including AI and cloud-based applications. Vodafone
and Google will work together to improve and expand the range of
products and services available in stores and online, supported
with a refreshed customer experience rooted in the benefits of AI.
Google and Vodafone are working towards enabling Vodafone to offer
YouTube subscription-based products and Google One subscription
plans, such as storage plans and AI Premium plans to consumers, in
addition to offering a range of Pixel and other Android
devices.
Vodafone and Google will work towards enhancing Vodafone TV (which
is powered by Android TV), using Google Cloud's advanced gen AI
capabilities to provide additional content discovery features,
rewards, and offers, as well as content monetization with Google Ad
Manager to deliver a better ads experience. The teams are also
exploring a more deeply-integrated YouTube experience across
Vodafone TV devices.
Digital Transformation & Security: Powered by Google Cloud's
gen AI
Vodafone and Google Cloud already have a strong track record of
collaboration. The companies have worked together to create a data
repository (data lake) that houses Vodafone's data and its existing
AI and data analytics services on Google Cloud to ensure maximum
security and adherence to legal requirements. With the expanded
partnership, Vodafone will use Vertex AI, Google Cloud's
enterprise-ready AI platform, to build, deploy, and scale machine
learning models and AI applications powered by Google's Gemini
models. This will help increase the speed and ease with which
Vodafone's operating companies in multiple countries can innovate
and launch new products.
Through this partnership, Vodafone aims to offer its business
customers enhanced cyber protection with its own
soon-to-be-developed cloud-native cybersecurity solution, utilising
Google Cloud's Security Operations platform. It will provide
security incident and event management, as well as the latest
software-based protection tools. Vodafone will also use Google
Cloud's Security Operations platform when developing certain
products and services to further ensure that they are secure by
design to help keep customers safe online.
Both companies intend to jointly promote the use of universal
industry standards in areas such as online safety, responsible AI
development, network performance, and interoperability to drive
economies of scale in industrial efficiency, boost innovation, and
improve public services at scale. Through this partnership,
Vodafone will put AI-powered cloud, content, and connectivity into
the hands of more people.
- ends -
Notes
The key benefits of the Vodafone and Google partnership
include:
Leading the Way in Enhanced Consumer Experiences
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Empowering
consumers with AI: Vodafone
intends to make it easier for consumers to experience the power of
AI through a wider range of AI-powered Google Pixel devices and
other Android phones coupled with its fast 5G pan-European network.
Vodafone will also help customers learn about AI features with
improved online guides, dedicated in-store experiences, and freshly
trained staff.
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Offering a
best-in-class TV platform: Vodafone
and Google will work towards Vodafone TV customers enjoying
AI-generated search and recommendations for personalised TV
content, applications, and rewards. This expands on the news in
2023 that Vodafone's adoption of Android TV became the preferred
platform for Vodafone TV, now live in seven countries. This
collaboration also empowers Vodafone to optimise its infrastructure
using Google Cloud's gen AI capabilities, and unlock new
opportunities in advertising and market expansion. Google Ad
Manager is intended to act as the main platform for the
monetisation of Vodafone's addressable TV inventories, providing a
better ads experience for users.
●
Extending the
reach of cloud and AI to consumers: Google
and Vodafone aim to offer Vodafone's consumers a range of services
built using advanced cloud-based AI. This may include storage for
photos, video and files using Google One, and Google One AI Premium
with Gemini Advanced for those who want the extra power of Google's
most capable AI models. The parties are also working to expand the
availability of subscription-based YouTube services to Vodafone
customers. All such services will be supported by Vodafone's
extensive fixed and mobile networks in the relevant
territory.
Digital Transformation & Security: Powered by Google Cloud's
generative AI
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Expanding
business services powered by Google Cloud: Google
and Vodafone will enhance their existing cloud partnership. Google
is already the public cloud provider for all Vodafone's analytics,
including anonymised and aggregated big data, business
intelligence, marketing, and network analytics. Vodafone will use
Vertex AI, Google Cloud's enterprise-ready AI platform, to build,
deploy, and scale machine learning models and AI applications
powered by Google's Gemini models, 1.5 Pro and Flash. Vodafone will
bolster its commitment to distributing and building upon Google
Cloud-based services, including cybersecurity, data analytics and
AI.
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Enhancing
security and threat detection: Vodafone
will build a new cloud-native cybersecurity offering for its
business customers utilising Google Cloud's Security Operations
platform so they can better protect themselves and respond in real
time to cybersecurity threats. In addition, Vodafone will draw on
the strengths of its own in-house team of 900 cybersecurity
experts, along with Google Cloud's Security Operations platform, to
further secure Vodafone's operations at scale from external
threats.
●
Transforming
the back office with gen AI: Google
and Vodafone experts will build products and scale priority
use-cases for digital, IT, and network teams to help automate fault
detection, streamline back-office operations and more. Google will
also create a gen AI training programme for Vodafone employees to
help them enhance their own digital credentials and operational
efficiencies by using scaled AI applications internally, and with
partners.
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For more information, please contact:
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Investor Relations:
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investors.vodafone.com
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ir@vodafone.co.uk
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Media Relations:
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Vodafone.com/media/contact
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GroupMedia@vodafone.com
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Registered Office: Vodafone House, The Connection, Newbury,
Berkshire RG14 2FN, England. Registered in England No.
1833679
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About Vodafone
Vodafone is a leading European and African telecoms company. We
provide mobile and fixed services to over 330 million customers in
15 countries (excludes Italy which is held as a discontinued
operation under Vodafone Group), partner with mobile networks in 45
more and have one of the world's largest IoT platforms. In Africa,
our financial technology businesses serve almost 79 million
customers across seven countries - managing more transactions than
any other provider.
Our purpose is to connect for a better future by using technology
to improve lives, businesses and help progress inclusive
sustainable societies. We are committed to reducing our
environmental impact to reach net zero emissions by
2040.
For more information, please visit www.vodafone.com follow
us on X at @VodafoneGroup or connect with us on LinkedIn
at www.linkedin.com/company/vodafone.
About Google
Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it
universally accessible and useful. Through products and platforms
like Search, Maps, Gmail, Android, Google Play, Google Cloud,
Chrome and YouTube, Google plays a meaningful role in the daily
lives of billions of people and has become one of the most
widely-known companies in the world. Google is a subsidiary of
Alphabet Inc.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorised.
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VODAFONE
GROUP
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PUBLIC
LIMITED COMPANY
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(Registrant)
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Date:
October 8, 2024
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By: /s/ M D B
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Name: Maaike de Bie
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Title: Group General Counsel and Company Secretary
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