Vodafone UK has pledged to reverse a long-term decline with growth in both sales and profits in the next two years in Britain, where the mobile industry remains locked in a tough battle over prices and against regulation.
Jeroen Hoencamp, chief executive of Vodafone UK, promised to invest more in creating the best mobile network to attract more customers willing to pay higher prices for better services.
As part of this, he said that all options would be considered including adding fixed line broadband services and content to create so-called "quad play" bundles in future.
However, he said the demand for such bundled deals had not yet been proven in the UK - although this will be tested in the coming months when BT returns to the consumer mobile market with offers adding broadband and TV to its packages.
Mr Hoencamp said he was not worried about the arrival of BT, although conceded that the mobile launch was being watched closely and all options were being considered to respond if it proved more effective than he expected.
"We haven't felt the need to execute [other options]," he said. "I am not convinced that the customer is genuinely ready [for quad play]."
He did suggest, however, that the British regulators look more closely about how rivals can access the national broadband network owned by BT, which needs to provide regulated wholesale.
He also said the group would build its enterprise business, which will be supported by services using the fixed line network acquired with Cable & Wireless Worldwide three years ago.
"Profitability in the UK is among the lowest in Europe," Mr Hoencamp said, pointing to the effects of competition, regulation and the economic downturn. "We can turn that around. We want to create the best network. Nothing else matters if we don't focus in the network."
Mr Hoencamp said the company had responded with alternative plans to the government's efforts to force the networks to open up in rural areas to improve coverage.
Vodafone has submitted a five-point proposal, starting with a request for a detailed analysis of the so-called "national roaming" plans, and then offering instead a combination of site sharing with rivals and additional mast building.
Mr Hoencamp wants the government to make it easier to build telecoms towers by cutting planning regulations on size and position of masts, as well as allowing further use of state-owned land and buildings. "It would require help from Ofcom to support this direction," he added. "National roaming has never been done anywhere successfully. It is really hard to do."
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