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Vodafone is the first mobile telecommunications company in Germany to start a UMTS test for business customers to access the UMTS network via a UMTS data card. With this card, the business customers can already gather experience with the third generation of mobile telecommunications before its commercial launch. The circle of participants - from large corporate groups to tradesmen's businesses - will be enlarged during the next few weeks.

The Vodafone Mobile Connect Card UMTS - a UMTS data card for notebooks - has already been presented exclusively by Vodafone at the Systems trade fair. Currently, Vodafone provides UMTS coverage in more than one hundred towns all over Germany. At Vodafone, the commercial UMTS launch is scheduled for 2004.

UMTS means a big step forward for mobile working: Accessing the Intranet or receiving e-mails will then be possible at a speed which is up to six times that of ISDN. Thus, when on the move, customers will be able to download data from the network at up to 384 kilobits per second. The Vodafone Mobile Connect Card UMTS is appropriate for use in a notebook - for GPRS as well as for UMTS data services.

"For the first time, our customers participating in the test have the opportunity to gather experience in our high-performance UMTS network. They will be able to experience the turbo charge that 3G gives our data network ahead of its commercial launch next year," comments Jrgen von Kuczkowski, Chairman of the Board of Management of Vodafone D2 GmbH. "Today, Vodafone already covers far more than 25 percent of the population with UMTS."

The Vodafone Mobile Connect Card UMTS will be supplied pre-configured for simple access to the Internet and Intranet. The package will consist of a PC card, software and a comprehensive user guide. The special user interface - the 'Dashboard' - can be used simply and intuitively. The Dashboard will enable all data connections, access to the Internet or Intranet and SMS, e-mail as well as the Instant Messenger to be controlled simply and directly. In addition, all common encryption mechanisms for accessing the company network will be supported.