It's Woedaphone for investors

SIR Christopher Gent, the once-lionised chief executive of Vodafone, is facing fresh scrutiny as the mobile phone giant's shares plumb depths not seen since 1998.

This month, more than £12.4bn has been wiped off its market value as fears grow about prospects for mobile operators. On Thursday, more than 640m changed hands as it hit a four-year low of 111 1/2p, down 8 1/2p - well off the 399p it hit amid the euphoria of its £101bn takeover of Mannesmann.

With every 1p fall, the FTSE drops 3 points. Odds on the price falling below 100p are narrowing. Growing concerns that Vodafone paid too much for Mannesmann and other mobile networks has prompted the slide.

The City has braced itself for Gent to admit as much at the end of May when he is expected to write down some of its core mobile operations and unveil a full-year underlying loss of £7.6bn against last year's £7.8bn. This month Japanese rival NTT set a precedent when it took a £4.6bn charge for recent mobile acquisitions.

'Everybody now knows Gent overpaid,' said one of Vodafone's largest shareholders. He is forgiving the mistake because Gent used shares instead of cash. The City will push for a change at the top only if Vodafone starts to lose ground against rivals such as Orange and Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile.

'Gent has not yet shown that Vodafone is anything more than an investment trust,' said another fund manager. Vodafone's fall is largely due to doubts that the billions it has invested in 3G networks will ever show a decent return.

Already, 3G has been delayed until mid-2003. Even if services such as high-speed internet are widely adopted, many doubt whether Vodafone will get a decent slice of the action.