Vodafone confirms own-brand 3G handset launch plan

London, Sep 28: Britain's Vodafone Group Plc launched the first of its own-branded 3G handsets on Thursday, as the mobile phone giant tries to expand the market for higher-paying 3G services by luring more prepay users.

Vodafone said China's Huawei Technologies would supply the new Vodafone 710 clamshell phone, the first in a series of similar own-branded handsets that it plans to source from Asian vendors, confirming what a source close to the company told Reuters on Wednesday.

''The move will assist the uptake of 3G services, due to the lower cost per handset and the fact that the Vodafone 710 will be offered on prepay as well as contract, and will provide wide market access to 3G,'' Vodafone said in a statement.

Vodafone's tie-up with Huawei underscores a rising trend among European networks to tap a new breed of lower-cost Asian suppliers for so-called ''white-label'' phones on which they can put their own name.

Such handsets can typically cost a third less than those sourced from more established handset brands, while giving operators greater flexibility to customise the phones to their own services.

Vodafone said the new handset, which includes an MP3 music player, a 1.3-megapixel camera and Bluetooth, would offer customers easier access to its services such as mobile TV, music downloads and video telephony.

It plans to launch the new phone in all its major Western European markets early next month.

Reuters