Vodafone Appoints Siavash Alamouti as Group Research and Development Director

Vodafone today announces the appointment of Siavash Alamouti as its Group Research and Development (R&D) Director, effective from the 1 March 2010. Siavash will be joining Vodafone from Intel in the US, where he most recently worked as an Intel Fellow in its Mobility Group.

Siavash is best known as the inventor of the Alamouti space-time block code. The Alamouti space-time block code is used to improve the reliability of data-transfer and it has been adopted in a variety of global standards. Siavash is an internationally recognised expert in smart antenna technology and holds over 20 patents in wireless systems application and wireless systems design.

“Siavash has considerable experience of both the IT and Mobile industries and he has a strong track record of delivery,” said Vodafone Group CTO, Steve Pusey. “I am delighted to welcome Siavash to my management team and I look forward to working with him.”

Prior to working for Intel, Siavash spent time with Vivato, Inc., Cadence Design Systems, AT&T Wireless Services and MPR Teltech Ltd in various engineering roles. Siavash holds a B.S. and M.S.c. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

Siavash will replace Mike Walker, who recently retired from the role of Group Research and Development Director after 25 years with Vodafone and Racal. Mike continues to work with the Vodafone Group Technology team in an advisory capacity.

Steve Pusey said "I would like to thank Mike for his outstanding contribution to Vodafone over the years and for his tremendous contribution and service to the telecommunications industry. I am pleased that Mike will continue to work alongside us as an advisor."

Whilst at Vodafone, Mike was a key player in designing the security for the GSM telephone system, which became the most dominant mobile phone system in the world. More recently, Mike Walker led the team which built the first prototype 3G network in Europe.

Mike currently holds the position of Chair of the Board of European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), as well as being a part-time Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London and a visiting Professor at the University of Surrey. He is also President of The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. Mike is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the UK’s foremost engineering body and a Member of Council of that Academy.

About Vodafone:
Vodafone is the world's leading international mobile communications group with approximately 333 million proportionate customers as at 31 December 2009. Vodafone currently has equity interests in 31 countries across five continents and around 40 partner networks worldwide. For more information, please visit www.vodafone.com

For further information please contact:

Vodafone Group Media Relations
Tel: +44-1635 664 444
Email: groupmediarelations@vodafone.com