Aussie Vodafone Subscribers to Have 4G Services by June

Australian subscribers of Vodafone will enjoy 4G long-term evolution (LTE) services by June 2013, Vodafone Chief Executive Officer Bill Morrow said on Monday.

The initial 4G network will be rolled out in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Wollongong, Newcastle and the Gold Coast. Prices for the LTE services will be similar to 3G services offered by other telcos such as Telstra and Optus, he said.

Vodafone has tested the 4G services on some of its employees in the company's North Sydney offices which showed download speed of 80 megabits per second and upload speed of 20Mbps.

The company said Vodafone subscribers could get speeds of up to 150Mbps because of its 20MHz spectrum in the 1800MHz spectrum band.

By the end of 2013, Vodafone aims to cover 1,000 sites throughout Australia with 4G services. Telstra and Optus were ahead of offering LTE services to their customers, but Mr Morrow said besides the roll out of its 4G services, Vodafone would also expand its 3G network coverage beginning June in regional Australia.

Their initial targets for the 3G coverage expansion are holiday destinations and major roadways. Vodafone will also put in place 2,000 more network sites besides the over 300 in-building sites it has established around train hubs, shopping malls, airports, motorways and tunnels.

The expansion of services are Vodafone's way of appeasing customers after the telco lost over 1 million clients due to customer service problems that started in 2010.

"We want to take the worry out of mobile use - be it providing a network when and where you need it most, speaking to someone who can quickly understand and help you with your needs, or removing the surprise when you receive your bill at the end of the month - we've reshaped out business around understanding and anticipating the needs of our 6 million customers," Mr Morrow said in a statement.

To avoid bill shock, Vodafone made changes to its data charging on new voice plans and is sending spend alerts for both prepaid and postpaid customers. It also moved back to Australia some of its call centre operations.

Also on Monday, Mr Morrow called on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate rival Telstra's alleged domination of the mobile and fixed-line telecom markets.

"(Optus and Vodafone are) up against a behemoth; one that has stated publicly that they want to maintain supremacy in that space. They are making a mint off of the fixed-line business and so we have to rethink," The Australian quoted Mr Morrow.