Re Contract

Vodafone Group PLC
20 March 2001

20 March 2001

VODAFONE SELECTS CABLE & WIRELESS AS

CARRIER FOR VOICE AND GPRS DATA ROAMING TRIAL



Vodafone Group Plc ('Vodafone') and Cable & Wireless, the global
telecommunications group, announces today that they have signed a centralised
voice agreement. In a separate contract, Vodafone has also selected Cable &
Wireless to facilitate a European General Packet Radio Service ('GPRS') data
roaming trial.



Voice agreement

The voice agreement between Vodafone and Cable & Wireless brings together a
series of regional agreements and is the first of its kind undertaken by a
global mobile operator.  Under the agreement, Cable & Wireless will deliver
more international voice traffic on behalf of Vodafone than any other carrier,
resulting in a consistent quality of service for Vodafone's customers.



The contract initially covers Vodafone's operators throughout Europe, with the
intention of a global rollout at a later stage.  This means that any Vodafone
European operator can sign up to the global agreement and receive consistent
pan-European international roaming pricing, core to Vodafone's drive to offer
the same services on a global basis.



European GPRS data roaming trial

The three month GPRS international trial seeks to establish consistent levels
of service for Vodafone's participating customers when roaming on the new GPRS
data networks across Europe. Using a GPRS enabled handset, customers will be
able to access their e-mail or corporate Intranet over a secure system, no
matter which of the participating countries they are working in.



Cable & Wireless is providing an Internet protocol-based ('IP') network
connection between nine Vodafone operators in Europe, to enable selected GPRS
trialists to roam within the region.  This roaming capability will be a core
part of the GPRS network, which requires consistency of service, security and
quality.

Vodafone's decision to partner with Cable & Wireless for these contracts
resulted from a variety of factors, including the global reach of Cable &
Wireless' network coverage and the quality of its service.

Thomas Geitner, Chief Executive, Group Products and Services designate,
Vodafone, said: 'Our agreements with Cable & Wireless illustrate the type of
synergies that can be realised through Vodafone's European network.  Vodafone
is well positioned to create a European GPRS infrastructure through our
extensive reach and the agreement with Cable & Wireless demonstrates our
commitment to provide seamless European roaming for our customers.'



Andrew McGrath, president, Service Providers, at Cable & Wireless said: 'We
are delighted to be working with Vodafone for each of these projects and
further strengthening our relationship with this leading mobile operator.  Our
global capability ensures we will be able to meet Vodafone's evolving needs
and we firmly believe that the scale, speed and reliability of our IP network
positions us as the ideal carrier for operators developing mobile data
services.'

                                    -ends-



About GPRS

GPRS is a data bearer service that provides high-speed data transmission and
'always on' connectivity.  Customers will be able to send and receive data
significantly faster than via the existing GSM mobile network and, once logged
on, avoid the repetitive process of re-connecting every time they need to send
data, making the mobile office a much simpler reality.



About Cable & Wireless

Cable & Wireless is a major global telecommunications business with revenue of
over £9 billion (US$14 billion) in the year to 31 March 2000 and customers in
70 countries.  Its operations around the world offer a full range of
telecommunications services. Cable & Wireless' focus for future growth is on
IP (internet protocol) and data services and solutions for business customers.
It is developing advanced IP networks and value-added services in the US,
Europe and the Asia-Pacific region in support of this strategy.  With the
capability of its global IP infrastructure and its strength in key markets,
Cable & Wireless holds a unique position in terms of global coverage and
services to business customers.



About Cable & Wireless Mobile Carrier Services

Cable & Wireless is the first company to dedicate specialist resources
exclusively to mobile carriers, via its Mobile Carrier Services team.  It has
built close links throughout the sector over the past ten years. Globally,
Mobile Carrier Services maintains commercial relationships with over 36 mobile
operators - more than any other carrier - giving the organisation a wealth of
experience in understanding the specialist needs of mobile businesses.



For more information about Cable & Wireless, please go to www.cw.com.



About Vodafone Group Plc

Vodafone Group Plc is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company,
with interests in 30 countries across five continents and approximately 78.7
million proportionate customers worldwide.



For further information contact:



Tim Brown, Group Corporate Affairs Director

Melissa Stimpson, Head of Group Investor Relations

Jon Earl, Investor Relations Manager

Tel:  [phone]



John West

Tavistock Communications

Tel:  [phone]



Nicola March

Cable & Wireless Global

Tel:  [phone]

Email:  [e-mail]



Claire Dell

Brodeur Worldwide

Tel:  [phone]

Email:  [e-mail]