Vodafone Dropping NYSE for Nasdaq Listing

Vodafone Group Plc (VOD), facing tougher competition from the pending merger of Orange and T-Mobile in the UK, is moving to the Nasdaq trading index to cut costs.

The service provider expects to save about $400,000 per year in listing fees, a spokesman told Bloomberg.

Vodafone, the world’s largest wireless operator, has been trading its American depository receipts on the NYSE Euronext; at the end of this month, it will move over to the Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. It will continue to use “VOD” as its stock ticker.

But there’s more to Vodafone’s push than saving cash. Tech stocks including Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) trade on the Nasdaq. That, Vodafone spokesman Simon Gordon told Bloomberg, will be a better fit.

“We don’t just offer voice services anymore, we offer multimedia and data and therefore expect to be at home on Nasdaq,” he said.

Vodafone’s is the 14th company this year to switch from the NYSE to Nasdaq.