Vodafone boss calls to simplify phone industry

Wants less operating systems

13 February 2008 10:41 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Vodafone boss Arun Sarin has called for the mobile phone industry to simplify its future development and continue to adopt common standards.

The comments, in his keynote speech at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, came as many chipset manufacturers showed off yet another Operating system, Android, from the Open Handset Alliance.

Sarin, who wants manufacturers to reduce the number of operating systems they offer to consumers, hopes that in doing so customer experiences will be improved.

"We have to narrow this down to four or five, with the key being to let the market decide which is better", Sarin said. "Consumers need to look at the OS being used when a new phone is purchased, and to make that decision not based on short-term objectives."

Vodafone currently spends heavily on making sure its service works with the numerous handsets that the company offers.

Any simplification therefore would only serve to benefit the company and its operating costs.