Vodafone K.K. to donate handset recycling proceeds to WWF Japan

Vodafone K.K. announces today that it has decided to donate proceeds from recycled mobile handsets that are collected at Vodafone shops to the World Wide Fund for Nature Japan (WWF Japan), starting 1 April 2005 for one year. In addition to reducing waste to minimise impact on the environment, Vodafone K.K. has been able to contribute to the effective use of resources through its mobile handset recycling activities. Vodafone K.K. began donating proceeds from handset recycling in fiscal 2002, and donated 20 million yen and 18.4 million yen in fiscal 2002 and 2003 respectively. 

In January 2005, Vodafone K.K. conducted a customer survey in which 68% of respondents chose environmental conservation as a top priority, and this is the main reason Vodafone K.K. selected WWF Japan as the beneficiary of proceeds from recycled handsets.

Vodafone K.K. collects unused mobile handsets, battery packs, chargers and other accessories for recycling at all of its shops nationwide, after customers have erased information on their handsets by themselves. By donating the full profits of the recycled handsets to WWF Japan, Vodafone K.K. will strive to further environmental conservation in Japan.

• Vodafone and the speech mark symbol are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vodafone Group Plc.
• Vodafone Group is the world?s leading mobile carrier and as of the end of December 2004, had equity interests in 26 countries and 416.4mventure customers, with a further fourteen partner networks.

About Vodafone K.K.
Vodafone K.K. is a leading mobile operator in Japan with over 15 million customers and a subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc, the world?s largest mobile community. The Tokyo-based company offers a wide range of sophisticated mobile voice and data servicesincluding Vodafone live!, which provides mail and internet access to 85% of its customers, and pioneered the picture messaging service called Sha-mail first introduced in November 2000. In December 2002, Vodafone K.K. launched the world?s first commercial 3G W-CDMA service based on 3GPP international standards. Vodafone K.K.?s 3G service offers its customers rich content androaming on 155 networks in 116 countries and regions as of 30 March 2005. For more information, please visit www.vodafone.jp

For further information, please contact:
Matthew Nicholson
Vodafone K.K. Public Relations
Tel: 03-6403-1000 (+81-3-6403-1000)
Email: matthew.nicholson@vodafone.com