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Other States Must Wait For Vodafone HSDPA |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Wednesday, 25 October 2006 |
Vodafone customers in Melbourne and Sydney are first to get faster
cellular broadband, but other cities could have a long wait to join them.
Vodafone's upgraded 3G mobile phone network went live last
week, but users in Brisbane, Adelaide,
Perth and Canberra
may have to wait as late as next year to get access to the upgraded network
speeds. The copmany doesn't even plan to release its timetable for upgrading other cities until the New Year.
With data download speeds of up to 1.8Mbps, increased
reliability and lower latency, the new broadband services will also allow much
faster upload sppeds.
Previously uploads were limited to 128kbps on Vodafone's 3G network,
but with the HSDPA upgrade this will rise to 384Kbps.
Typical download speeds are said to be around 600Kbps to
1.4Mbps, peaking at 1.8Mbps.
The HSDPA/3G data card available in PCMCIA format costs A$299,
but the company will make it available to credit-approved applicants for $0
upfront, then A$12.46 per month for 24 months.
A HSDPA/3G USB modem will launch next month and handsets
will follow in the first half of 2007 priced at A$399.
The Australian network is Vodafone's eighth operation to
switch on to the higher speed wireless network.
Edward Goff, General Manager Business Markets at Vodafone Australia,
says: "Vodafone mobile broadband will enhance our customers' interaction with
the internet, office data and email with large attachments, when out of the
office and on the move.
"Vodafone is working towards a global mobile broadband
vision and our high-speed connections have already liberated more than one
million laptop customers worldwide, helping them to escape the office and work
from wherever they need to be," he said.
The data costs are comparable to existing 3G bundles from Vodafone,
starting at $29.95 for 100MB and at the top end a 1GB plan costs $99.95. Over
allowance charges are set at 30 cents per MB for all plans.
As an introductory offer, Vodafone is providing users with
two months on a free, 1GB per month access program.
Though users in downtown Sydney and Melbourne will get good
coverage users outside these two metropolitan areas will have to wait until
next year before they even find out when coverage will reach them. Coverage
outside these strictly ‘downtown' metro areas is likely to be some time away.
"Our current strategy is simple - provide high-speed,
mobile broadband coverage where it counts," said Goff.
"Our upgraded 3G broadband service will first appeal to
business customers who want to operate more effectively while out of the office
Vodafone 3G broadband provides fast, one-click access to email and attachments,
the web, Virtual Private Networks (VPN) and company servers," he said.
The coverage maps offered up at the launch event showed that
only 45 per cent of its existing 3G network has HSDPA capability. Despite
Vodafone's diminutive 3G coverage the company has managed to attract some
250,000 (phone or data card) users to its regular 3G network.
Nokia's provided the technology for the High Speed Downlink
Packet Access upgrade to the existing Nokia infrastructure.
"Vodafone is at the leading edge adopting new
technologies that benefit their customers here in Australia and around the world. We
are happy to continue our successful cooperation by supporting them in bringing
the Nokia HSDPA solution to Australia,"
Paul Tyler, General Manager, Networks, Nokia.
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