• Over 3,250 handsets have been collected during the first 4 months since the launch of the program, in Vodafone stores
• Brasov, Bucuresti, Targu Mures and Craiova were the locations with the greatest number of handsets collected through the Vodafone program

Vodafone Romania is pleased to announce the results of the national handsets recycle program, after 4 months since its launch. Through this program, Vodafone Romania is collecting obsolete mobile phones and accessories, no matter the type or the condition, to be recycled, from all mobile phones users in Romania.

"The handsets recycle program is an extremely important initiative within Vodafone Romania's corporate responsibility activity, complementing all the other actions for the environment protection we are constantly supporting. The ecological education is a first step in developing responsible behaviors towards the world around us, therefore our programs include also an important educational component. We are glad that many of our dealers joined Vodafone's initiative and are currently deploying similar projects to collect obsolete mobile phones, in their points of sales", said Liliana Solomon, Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Romania.

Since the launch of the program, on March 28, 2007 til the end of July, Vodafone Romania collected over 3,250 mobile phones, at the special points set up in the 83 stores of the company, all over the country. In addition, over 163 kg of accessories were collected - batteries, chargers, hands-free equipment, data wires.

67% of the total number of mobile phones collected were refurbished to be reused in developing countries. The handsets which could not be repaired, representing 33% of the total amount, were broken and the constituent materials were recovered and used in the manufacture of new equipment, in the telecommunications or other industries, through a recycling process, outside of the Romanian territory.

All handsets and accessories collected by Vodafone Romania are delivered periodically to Fonebak UK, the company that Vodafone Group works with, internationally, on phones recycling.

Among the mobile phones models collected to be recycled so far, the most were Nokia 3310, Nokia 5110, Ericsson A1018S, Ericsson A2628S, Motorola D520, Motorola AM3180, Bosh CAM607, Siemens C25, Alcatel Easy DB BE1 and Alcatel OT310BF3.

The largest numbers of mobile phones were disposed by users in Vodafone stores in Brasov, Bucharest, Targu Mures, Craiova, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Ploiesti, Miercurea Ciuc, Constanta and Alba Iulia.

Vodafone is the first telecommunications company in Romania which launched a national handset recycle program, an initiative aimed at reducing electronic waste for a cleaner and healthier environment. The handset recycle program is a prioritary activity within Vodafone Group, in line with the European environmental regulations.

The national handsets recycle program is part of Vodafone Romania's Corporate Responsibility activity which has as objective to improve people's lives by supporting specific programs in various domains. Since 2005, Vodafone Romania has deployed, together with the Non-Governmental organization Mare Nostrum, the "Clean Seaside" program, to keep the beaches clean. Under "Partnership for Life" umbrella, Vodafone Romania gets involved in saving human lives by developing different programs in partnership with Smurd, Salvamont and Salvamar. The corporate responsibility is at the heart of Vodafone's activity at Group level. Currently, Vodafone ranks first for its good corporate responsibility practices, in the Accountability Rating 2006.

Vodafone Romania, a subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc., had 8.223 million customers, as of June 30, 2007. Vodafone is the world's largest international mobile telecommunications group with equity interests in 25 countries and Partner Networks in a further 38 countries. Providing a full range of mobile telecommunications services, including voice and data communications, Vodafone currently serves 232.0 million proportionate customers worldwide.