Shares in Vodafone Group Plc were able to shrug off the hysterical health worries and concerns about loss price competition from the likes of Mercury Communications Ltd yesterday, after news came through that the German Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications had awarded the licence to build and operate the country’s E-1 digital cellular telephone network to the E-Plus consortium, in which Vodafone has a 16% stake. Vodafone shares put on five pence at 403 pence. The E-Plus consortium is led by Thyssen AG and energy group Veba AG, which each holds 28%. Next biggest shareholder is BellSouth Corp, Atlanta, with Caisse des Depots holding 2% and the other 5% being held by interests in the former East Germany. E-Plus is planning to invest $1,200m to build and operate the nationwide cellular network and expects to start offering services in the Berlin region by the end of this year, with about 50% of the German population receiving service by the end of 1994, in competition with the Bundespost Telekom cellular network and Mannesmann Mobilfunk GmbH’s D-1. The beaten contender for the E-1 cellular licence was the E-Star consortium, which was led by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG.
