The Vodafone network now covers 23 million Australians, with recent enhancements bolstering 4G capacity in the capital cities.
Following the completion of a long-term project to refarm its 3G 850MHz spectrum to faster 4G technology, Vodafone now claims to offer 4G coverage to 95 percent of the Australian population, an increase in the reach of its 4G network of 20 percent.
The 850MHz bands work in unison with the existing 1800MHz 4G bands to cover the necessary ground. In places where both 850MHz and 1800MHz spectrum is in use, customers with compatible devices will be able to download data even faster with carrier aggregation technology.
For comparison, the Telstra 4G currently covers 96 percent of the population and the Optus 4G network covers 90 percent of the population (and 98.5 percent when 2G and 3G network elements are considered). This positions Vodafone as the provider with the second largest 4G network in the country.
Focusing on the most populous areas of Australia, Vodafone’s network enhancements aim to make the 4G network more robust, with the expectation that its customers will use more and more data over the coming years.
“Our customers' mobile data usage continues to explode, largely driven by video traffic. To ensure we stay ahead of customer demand, we have doubled our low-band 4G capacity in metropolitan areas, and we will continue to repurpose our spectrum assets when needed," said Benoit Hanssen, Vodafone’s Chief Technology Officer.
“There’s still a lot of mileage left in 4G, and our customers will reap the benefits as we continue to roll out features such as VoLTE and Carrier Aggregation, and introduce Voice Over Wi-Fi in the future.”
Joseph Hanlon
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