1 How many mobile phones does Mr Colao have? 2 What does he use these phones for? a) BlackBerry b) Samsung 360 3 According to Mr Colao, do executives use their mobiles more in northern or southern Europe? 4 Why doesn’t he like video calling? 5 How does he

I’m a fan of Facebook, but not of video calls
by Ingrid Lunden
Vittorio Colao, the CEO of Vodafone,
has four phones and never switches
them off. He loves Facebook, too,
but only for friends - not for
business networking.
Mobile technology is making a
big difference to how people work.
W ith sm artphones and the right
mobile applications, companies will
be able to organise m eetings and
team working anywhere.
M r Colao says that he always
carries two or three mobile phones
with him. “Right now, I have a BlackBerry, an iPhone and a Samsung
360,” he says. “I use the BlackBerry
for business e-mail and to swap SMS
messages with colleagues. I use the
Samsung for social contact and to
access Facebook.”
Mr Colao sees differences in the
ways other executives use mobile
technology. “It depends on the
culture and age. In southern Europe,
every executive carries a mobile
and uses it all the tim e. Northern
Europeans are more disciplined.
They only use mobiles when they
need to.”
He is less enthusiastic about video
calling: “I’m not a fan and I don’t
know many people of my age who
are. I don’t want to see people when
I talk on the phone. M aybe it’s
because, when I’m on the phone,
I like to take notes.” He is more
positive about conference calling.
“C o n feren ce c a lls are u sefu l,
especially for keeping up to date on
projects.”
He only uses one social network:
Facebook. “I don’t have tim e to
use others. I have 98 friends there -
but they are real friends.” He uses
Facebook to send messages and to
see what friends are doing.
Read the article again and answer these questions.
1 How many mobile phones does Mr Colao have?
2 What does he use these phones for?
a) BlackBerry b) Samsung 360
3 According to Mr Colao, do executives use their mobiles more in northern
or southern Europe?
4 Why doesn’t he like video calling?
5 How does he use these communication technologies?
a) conference calling b) Facebook