Vodafone Jobs Boost For Glasgow
Mobile giant enters the home broadband market.
Glasgow is to get a share of 400 jobs Vodafone is creating with the launch of its first home broadband service. Vodafone Connect, with speeds of up to 76 Mbps, will be offered to existing mobile phone customers over the summer before being extended nationwide in the autumn. The latest move by the Newbury-based company will build on its European broadband network and is a bid to counter the growth of BT and other rivals in the market. Vodafone is already one of the largest broadband providers in Europe after taking its customer base to around 11.2 million at the end of September. Jeroen Hoencamp, head of Vodafone UK, said the "significant investment" in the service will create new jobs at its offices in Glasgow and the south east England including a dedicated broadband "switching" service. Among the key features of the fibre optic broadband service is a mobile phone app which allows consumers to give priority to supercharge any device connected to their home network, send a stronger signal to certain areas of the home, set time limits for wi-fi access and allow easy access for guests. Mr Hoencamp said: "This is a really exciting move for Vodafone in the UK as we move our business into a new phase. "We're looking forward to bringing our consumer customers the benefits of our experience in providing fixed and mobile services, both here in the UK and elsewhere around the world. "Our significant investment is creating hundreds of new jobs over the next couple of years." The service will take advantage of the infrastructure acquired by Vodafone when it took over Cable & Wireless Worldwide in 2012.