Vodafone lands 10 million 3G mobile users

Vodafone has signed up 10 million customers to its high-speed mobile service, Vodafone Live with 3G.

The mobile operator announced on Thursday that it was two weeks early in hitting the global target, which it set itself in November 2004.

"This is an important milestone for Vodafone and I am very pleased that we have achieved our target ahead of time," said chief executive Arun Sarin. Sarin has reportedly been battling opposition from some members of the Vodafone boardroom in recent weeks.

Vodafone Live gives users access to video calls and high-speed downloads. The 10 million figure does not include sales of Vodafone's high-speed data card – which appear to be lagging well behind its 3G phones. At the end of December 2005, Vodafone had sold 560,000 3G datacards.