In a move which tells us what we already basically knew, Vodafone have said its 4G services will launch by the summer’s end.
The network has said it will combine its fixed and mobile infrastructure in preparation for its launch of 4G services by late summer, as well as to provide integrated services to business customers.
You may have seen the ads on Tube station walls, highlighting Vody’s ‘increased investment’ in its networks, which the company said would represent a 50% rise in spending to more than £900 million in total.
The move follows the operator’s purchase of fixed communication provider Cable & Wireless Worldwide for more than £1 billion last year, and its spectrum auction spend of £802 million this year. Its spectrum auction purchase gave the network 31% of the market share, including two 10 MHz slots in the 800 MHz band.
The network said it had promised to have indoor 4G coverage to 98% of the UK population by 2015.
Currently the UK has only one 4G provider, Everything Everywhere, which launched its network last year and now covers more than 50% of the population, the network said. Earlier this year the operator said it would sign up one million customers by the end of this year with its network covering 70% of the population.
Vodafone UK chief executive Guy Laurence said it was an important step for consumers towards the arrival of Vodafone’s 4G service later this year.
“We’re investing in vital national infrastructure that can help play an important role in supporting growth in the wider economy.”
