Vodafone strengthens spectrum for 4G LTE

Sept. 27, 2011 - PRLog -- Vodafone has today confirmed it has strengthened its existing 1800MHz spectrum holding by making arrangements with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) on the exchange and reallocation of blocks of spectrum with the state railway authorities in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

“We have now organised our spectrum into contiguous blocks in mainland capital cities that will support the roll out of LTE in all capital cities, once mass market handsets and mobile broadband devices are available at mass market prices,” said Nigel Dews, CEO of Vodafone. “We thank the railways for their co-operation to help reach a better public policy outcome.”

Earlier this year Vodafone confirmed that it had commenced installing LTE-ready equipment as part of its billion dollar network investment plan which includes the replacement of equipment at all network sites, upgrades to existing sites, new network sites and the rollout of a new 850MHz network, built for smartphones.

Vodafone undertook successful LTE trials in the 1800MHz band with Huawei, near Newcastle NSW, at the end of 2010. The results achieved download speeds of up to 73Mbps, paving the way for the evolution to higher data speeds for Vodafone customers.

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About Vodafone Hutchison Australia
Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) operates the Vodafone, 3, and Crazy John’s brands. Formed in June 2009 following a merger between Vodafone Australia and Hutchison 3G Australia, VHA provides mobile services to over 7.2 million customers in Australia.