Vodafone eyes emerging markets

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Vodafone's (VOD.L) chief executive told a German newspaper that while emerging markets were not unscathed by the global economic crisis, they still offered opportunities to mobile phone operators.

"I'm assuming that growth will slow down in emerging markets but they still offer us vast potential," Vittorio Colao told Welt am Sonntag in an interview to be published on Sunday.

Two thirds of the world's cell phone subscriptions are in developing nations, with the highest growth rate in Africa, a United Nations agency said last month.

Other companies that have invested heavily in emerging markets include India's Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO), Norway's Telenor (TEL.OL), South Africa's MTN (MTNJ.J) and Egypt's Orascom Telecom (ORTE.CA).

Colao also told Welt am Sonntag it was definitely time for consolidation among mobile phone operators, but declined to say whether and how Vodafone would participate in the process.

(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)