Media: All About ... Vodafone's content investment.(Vodafone Group PLC)

The operator is gearing up to be a modern media owner, Ian Darby writes.

It's been a lively year for Vodafone so far. We've witnessed boardroom splits, resignations, oustings and general turmoil against a backdrop of the sale of Vodafone's Japanese business and an interim results statement that contained more bad news for shareholders - a previously undisclosed tax bill of pounds 5 billion and a warning that the company's growth is slowing.

There has been City and shareholder unrest at the strategy pursued by the chief executive, Arun Sarin. Sarin, who was reported to have had a bust-up with the out-going chairman, Lord MacLaurin, has responded with a radical management shake-up, which has split the company into three divisions.

Central to this is a renewed focus on Vodafone's key European markets, but another element is the creation of a new-business and innovations division, which will look to build more partnerships with content providers. Vodafone is gearing up to become a modern media owner and a purveyor of a wide array of content.

In the UK, Vodafone already offers a wide variety of content via its Vodafone Live! 3G portal in addition to other content for non-3G users.

Then, in March, Vodafone announced that it had a new UK marketing strategy linked to live music. O2 and T-Mobile are already well established in supporting live events, but Vodafone has gone down the route of creating its own content to support its greater involvement with music.

1. Vodafone launched as Racal Vodafone in 1985, the brainchild of Sir Ernest Harrison, the chairman of Racal Electronics. It has since grown to become the world's largest mobile phone company. The acquisitions of the US company AirTouch in 1999 and the German giant Mannesman in 2000, for pounds 101 billion, helped Vodafone build global scale. It has more than 16 million UK customers.