As Vodafone’s $1 billion network rollout nears completion, the red telco is prepping next generation 4G upgrades.
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Following the widely publicised Vodafail debacle, Vodafone has put its hand up, recognised its poor network and spent $1 billion on getting its network up to scratch. 18 months in the making, the two-year project is currently on track, letting Vodafone focus on introducing new network technologies.
To help manage the increase in data use via smartphones, tablets and mobile broadband devices, Vodafone is turning to Optus’ network, lifting their coverage from 94% to 96%. It’s a good move for the red telco as Optus’ acquisition of Vividwireless, coupled with its plans to roll out a major LTE-TDD network in 2013, will give it the highest capacity 4G network in Australia.
Vodafone’s Chief Executive, Bill Morrow, said in a statement “we’re absolutely focussed on delivering improved coverage and better reliability to our customers, with further improvements being built into the network every day.
“We recognise the consumer trends toward the increasing demand for data and we are now ready to introduce advanced technologies such as Vodafone 3G+ and 4G (LTE). 3G+ will be available from September and 4G (LTE) next year, giving our customers the benefits of even faster data speeds on the Vodafone network.”
Vodafone’s $1 billion maintenance upgrades are the foundation for the company’s introduction of higher speed 3G+ (Dual Carrier – HSPA) and the introduction of 4G (LTE) technology.
Work on its 3G+ rollout will commence in selected metropolitan areas from September of 2012, with 4G (LTE) technology being rolled out to selected areas from 2013.
Existing smartphones, tablets and broadband dongles will continue to work on Vodafone’s new network.
“Vodafone 3G+ and 4G (LTE) are very exciting technologies that will feature very strongly in our network improvements over the next two years,” explained Morrow.
“As we now approach the completion of this phase of our national network roll out, we have mapped out a very clear path for the introduction of higher data speeds and enhanced coverage for the benefit of our smartphone, tablet and mobile broadband customers.”
Read: Optus Up 4G Ante V Telstra
Vodafone will also be upgrading its base stations to the latest Internet Protocol (IP) technology which will provide faster speeds and rapid capacity upgrades in the future.
