Vodafone Group Plc, through Vodafone Global Products and Services, has today signed a two year pan-European agreement with KPMG, the global professional services firm, for the provision of mobile communications.

This agreement marks the first phase of the growing business relationship between Vodafone and KPMG. Vodafone will consolidate the mobile communications requirements for KPMG's European Anchor Practice - which is made up of 29,751 employees across Europe - by initially utilising the services of Vodafone Group partner networks in the UK (Vodafone UK), Netherlands (Libertel Vodafone), Germany (D2 Vodafone) and France (SFR).

Sir Christopher Gent, Chief Executive of Vodafone Group said: "We are looking forward to working with KPMG in Europe, and hope to develop other joint opportunities in the future. These will include services to our mutual business customers, utilising voice and data products on GPRS and 3G.

"With its unrivalled global reach, Vodafone can now offer a seamless cross-border service for clients. For example, when using the new Vodafone Virtual Home Environment service, KPMG executives travelling abroad will be able to use the same network short codes as they would on their home network."

Michael Wareing, Chairman, Client Service Board at KPMG, added: "The agreement with Vodafone is part of KPMG's strategy to offer consistent and common access to technology for our clients and staff across Europe, through global suppliers. KPMG has recently integrated its European operations into a European Anchor Practice (EAP), and by working with Vodafone as our pan-European communications provider, we will improve internal operations and ultimately, the service we provide to our clients."

Due to international tax regulations, each KPMG operation participating in the agreement will be billed on a national basis. Help will be provided through the use of Vodafone UMIS - a secure web-based Unified Management Information System. UMIS provides multi-national corporates with management information that will enable them to monitor and analyse mobile phone usage across multiple countries, territories & regions.

Vodafone will enable KPMG to investigate the full potential of both voice and data mobile communications by capitalising on the latest technology available, such as WAP, GPRS and multi-media services.  Further benefits include global and national account management teams, to allow any enquiries to be resolved on a local, national or global level.

For further information contact:

For further information on Vodafone:
Toby Robson or Janine Young
at the Vodafone Group Press Office
Telephone: 07000 500100
E-mail: press.office@vodafone.com

For further information on KPMG:
Kate Maybank
KPMG Corporate Communications
Telephone: 020 7694 4771
Email: kate.maybank@kpmg.co.uk