Vodafone 4G to launch on 29th August & will cost £5 a month extra

John_Patrick · 07-08-2013, 20:12

Quote:

Vodafone should sort out their 3G first before spending money on 4G.

There is a school of thought that the (or some) of the networks will eventually switch off 3g. Once 4g covers a good area, and people have 4g phones, is there any need for 3g?

Some say that there are 2 types of phone buyers, those that just want to call and text, who can stick with usibg 2g, or those that want data. Eventually, 4g handsets will be the norm, and the prices for contracts will reduce to what 3g contracts are now. For those that want data, 4G makes more sense but requires the 2g or 3g network as a fall back for voice.

srw985 · 07-08-2013, 20:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by denyo1977

Wow, they are just starting now. What do you expect? 90% coverage?

Not at all, but when you're comparing prices you're comparing the services currently on offer.
By the time Vodafone's coverage catches up in a year or so, both networks could have totally revamped price structures.

If the coverage ever catches up that is. EE's 4G must be close to covering as many people as Voda 3G by now?

rjb101 · 07-08-2013, 20:27

Vodaphone 3G is woefully inadequate in London - I can't see 4g being any better

sethpet · 07-08-2013, 21:55

Vodafone are rolling out single ran with 4G, so if every site will be 2G,3G &4G in the one cabinet, I assume the public claim of 98% indoor coverage will be all technologies.

Someone was on the radio this afternoon talking about Vodafone 4G, apparently the coverage they launch with in London is greater than the coverage offered by EE even with their headstart.

I will be going with Vodafone for sure as with my current plan and spotify on top I will save money moving to Vodafone 4G and get a bigger data allowance.

Just need to decide on which4G Device to get.

John_Patrick · 07-08-2013, 22:06

The single ran thing is the O2 and VF collaboration.... Single RAN for both operators. In London it is just 4g that's been added to existing kit at the moment. Outside of London the older kit is been swapped and 4g added at the same time. This has been going on for some time in the west of the country. They are using the same equipment in the west as EE do and assume those swapped already will be 4g ready, just need the extra bits switching on. That will be backhaul dependant of course though. My feeling is that VF rollout will be rather quick

wrexham103.4 · 07-08-2013, 23:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by denyo1977

So double the amount of data on a £26 SIM only plan compared to EE.

http://www.chitterchatter.co.uk/4g-ee-sim-only-so-8.php

3GB £25

plus on EE you fall back on to Tmob/orange 3G, and believe me living in north wales and regularly traveling to west wales you wont find another network with better 3G coverage (yes even better than 3 in places) , im actually amazed with the rural 3G coverage from EE.

im currently 5 miles from Bala (visiting and its bloody rural) and have full 3G signal with a 3meg download speed! considering the fixed line BB speed is around 1.5meg here, that aint half good in my book!

Just look at the o2/voda 3g coverage in N wales away from north coast and English border - there isnt any!

Im not an EE lover and will go with which ever network meets my needs coverage wise - 3G/4G, but atm EE does the job and im rarely with out 3G coverage never mind 2G

The Lord Lucan · 08-08-2013, 01:33

It will be interesting to see what O2/VF's coverage in London is like.. they get it wrong then they clearly didn't learn from EE's early mistakes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by John_Patrick

They are using the same equipment in the west as EE do and assume those swapped already will be 4g ready, just need the extra bits switching on. That will be backhaul dependant of course though. My feeling is that VF rollout will be rather quick

I wasn't aware that VF were using the Huawei BTS 3900A cabinets....
http://dc146.4shared.com/doc/qR54t5tm/preview.html

Outside London it is likely O2 & VF's roll out will be the same.

denyo1977 · 08-08-2013, 08:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrexham103.4

http://www.chitterchatter.co.uk/4g-ee-sim-only-so-8.php

3GB £25

plus on EE you fall back on to Tmob/orange 3G, and believe me living in north wales and regularly traveling to west wales you wont find another network with better 3G coverage (yes even better than 3 in places) , im actually amazed with the rural 3G coverage from EE.

im currently 5 miles from Bala (visiting and its bloody rural) and have full 3G signal with a 3meg download speed! considering the fixed line BB speed is around 1.5meg here, that aint half good in my book!

Just look at the o2/voda 3g coverage in N wales away from north coast and English border - there isnt any!

Im not an EE lover and will go with which ever network meets my needs coverage wise - 3G/4G, but atm EE does the job and im rarely with out 3G coverage never mind 2G

I never doubted that EE has got better 4G coverage (for now) or 3G coverage compared to Vodafone. My partner is on Vodafone and I personally wouldn't pay a "premium" price for their 3G coverage.
Still doesn't change the fact that Vodafone offers more data for the same price on SIM only. For people who can pick between the two (only London at the beginning) it might be important.
And quoting a price from a different website isn't really a fair comparison. Is there actually a reason why Chitter Chatter is banned on Hotukdeals? (I actually honestly don't know)

John_Patrick · 08-08-2013, 10:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan

It will be interesting to see what O2/VF's coverage in London is like.. they get it wrong then they clearly didn't learn from EE's early mistakes.

I wasn't aware that VF were using the Huawei BTS 3900A cabinets....
http://dc146.4shared.com/doc/qR54t5tm/preview.html

Outside London it is likely O2 & VF's roll out will be the same.

Yep, its the chinese stuff in the West, Swedish stuff in the East, Swedish stuff in the South West and the stuff from Finland in the South East. London is a mix of all three.

uno · 08-08-2013, 11:43

Why have Vodafone gone for such a mix of equipment ? It must be easier to have it all from one supplier for spare and service.

I wonder what it is for the midlands like Leicester where I live as all I can see from the planning applications is cabinets names Lancaster,Spitfire and Hurricane.

John_Patrick · 08-08-2013, 13:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by uno

Why have Vodafone gone for such a mix of equipment ? It must be easier to have it all from one supplier for spare and service.

I wonder what it is for the midlands like Leicester where I live as all I can see from the planning applications is cabinets names Lancaster,Spitfire and Hurricane.

They can use the mix of vendors to play each other of for price. If it was all one vendor they could effectively charge what they like. So, in a word, competition.

Lancaster, spitfire, hurricane is the name of the enclosures that house the equipment when its street furniture sites.

The Lord Lucan · 08-08-2013, 14:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by John_Patrick

They can use the mix of vendors to play each other of for price. If it was all one vendor they could effectively charge what they like. So, in a word, competition.

Lancaster, spitfire, hurricane is the name of the enclosures that house the equipment when its street furniture sites.

I suppose it does provide some resilience but bugger me wouldn't like to be the guy overlooking it all. i'm pretty sure that said guy at O2 or VF was in an interview once and stressed that it was complicated.

Saying that it's not simple at EE/MBNL One network part is Chinese and the other who has overall control is Swedish.

Thine Wonk · 08-08-2013, 14:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by John_Patrick

They can use the mix of vendors to play each other of for price. If it was all one vendor they could effectively charge what they like. So, in a word, competition.

Lancaster, spitfire, hurricane is the name of the enclosures that house the equipment when its street furniture sites.

Couldn't each vendor competitive tender for the lot? That's what other networks do.

uno · 08-08-2013, 17:52

I just hope with all the traffic disruption Vodafone are causing around Leicester that the service will be good,With the last count 18 mast upgrades and cabinet changes this I am told is just the ones on public landor highway verges the private property ones are listed. along with 15 other notices of roadworks being done laying new fibre cables and trenches

jabbamk1 · 08-08-2013, 19:47

Can anyone tell me where this image is from?

http://cdn.recombu.com/mobile/images..._w670_h240.png

John_Patrick · 08-08-2013, 20:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thine Wonk

Couldn't each vendor competitive tender for the lot? That's what other networks do.

They used to, but all networks use various vendors.

Orange used to be a wholey NSN network. Had a wee dable with Alcatel Lucent for 3g but was swiftley removed. Its eventualy going to become Huawei for 2g/4g as part of the EE banner, retaining NSN for 3g

Three started as NSN and NEC/Siemens, is now wholey NSN for 3G and will be samsung for 4G

O2 used to be split Motorola/NSN, then went wholey NSN for 2g. When 3g was rolled out it was NSN in the south and Nortel in the North but Nortel was replaced by NSN so for a time it was wholey NSN. Its going to be a mix of NSN/Ericsson and huawei.

Voda as far as I know, always were Ericsson for 2g and Ericsson and Nortel for 3G. Then ericsson and a little Alcatel for 3G in some areas. Its now a mix of NSN/Ericsson and Huawei as is O2.

Tmobile I think was always ericsson for 2g, then NSN for 3g. Since the merge into EE, its going to be Huawei for 2g/4g but retaining NSN 3g as its built in with Three as part of MBNL.

sethpet · 08-08-2013, 20:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by jabbamk1

Can anyone tell me where this image is from?

http://cdn.recombu.com/mobile/images..._w670_h240.png

Sent to a friend who works in Vodafone, he says its an internal matrix that was leaked.

any reason why you ask? Might be able to get an answer for you

jabbamk1 · 08-08-2013, 20:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by sethpet

Sent to a friend who works in Vodafone, he says its an internal matrix that was leaked.

any reason why you ask? Might be able to get an answer for you

I just want to read the document really. Could be some interesting stuff.

sethpet · 08-08-2013, 20:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by jabbamk1

I just want to read the document really. Could be some interesting stuff.

suspect its from a retail training pack or something similar, looks like that sort of material.

Rossby41 · 08-08-2013, 20:25

So much for rural fast mobile broadband then (the 800Mhz band).

John_Patrick · 08-08-2013, 21:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rossby41

So much for rural fast mobile broadband then (the 800Mhz band).

Rome wasn't built in a day

The Lord Lucan · 09-08-2013, 01:22

Leaked officially

Also isn't the Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile for free ONLY for 6 months...?

Aye Up · 09-08-2013, 01:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan

Also isn't the Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile for free ONLY for 6 months...?

I think in their press release they indicated both would be included as part of your subscription for upto 2 years (i.e. when most contracts renew).

sethpet · 09-08-2013, 02:31

It's only 6 months on the lowest plan, you get them for the whole contract term on the other plans is how I read it.

Think some press have gotten this detail wrong.

In the small print here says only the lowest tariffs are limited to 6 months.
http://blog.vodafone.co.uk/2013/08/07/vodafone-4g/

enapace · 09-08-2013, 03:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by sethpet

It's only 6 months on the lowest plan, you get them for the whole contract term on the other plans is how I read it.

Think some press have gotten this detail wrong.

In the small print here says only the lowest tariffs are limited to 6 months.
http://blog.vodafone.co.uk/2013/08/07/vodafone-4g/

Yeah you right just read. Also gives prices of there plans it sounds like a good gimmick if I am honest. Think it an epic fail that Vodafone sponsors F1 and that Sky sports F1 isn't included. Plus I noticed in the bottom comments section that the data needed for spotify or sky sports comes out of your plan. They are going make a killing I can imagine a lot of people are going go over there data allowance after first 3 months thinking that the data doesn't come out of your plan.

07-08-2013, 20:12	#26
John_Patrick Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Newcastle Posts: 904	Quote: Originally Posted by noise747 Vodafone should sort out their 3G first before spending money on 4G. There is a school of thought that the (or some) of the networks will eventually switch off 3g. Once 4g covers a good area, and people have 4g phones, is there any need for 3g? Some say that there are 2 types of phone buyers, those that just want to call and text, who can stick with usibg 2g, or those that want data. Eventually, 4g handsets will be the norm, and the prices for contracts will reduce to what 3g contracts are now. For those that want data, 4G makes more sense but requires the 2g or 3g network as a fall back for voice.

07-08-2013, 20:23	#27
srw985 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 283	Quote: Originally Posted by denyo1977 Wow, they are just starting now. What do you expect? 90% coverage? Not at all, but when you're comparing prices you're comparing the services currently on offer. By the time Vodafone's coverage catches up in a year or so, both networks could have totally revamped price structures. If the coverage ever catches up that is. EE's 4G must be close to covering as many people as Voda 3G by now?

07-08-2013, 20:27	#28
rjb101 Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 2,609	Vodaphone 3G is woefully inadequate in London - I can't see 4g being any better

07-08-2013, 21:55	#29
sethpet Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 494	Vodafone are rolling out single ran with 4G, so if every site will be 2G,3G &4G in the one cabinet, I assume the public claim of 98% indoor coverage will be all technologies. Someone was on the radio this afternoon talking about Vodafone 4G, apparently the coverage they launch with in London is greater than the coverage offered by EE even with their headstart. I will be going with Vodafone for sure as with my current plan and spotify on top I will save money moving to Vodafone 4G and get a bigger data allowance. Just need to decide on which4G Device to get.

07-08-2013, 22:06	#30
John_Patrick Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Newcastle Posts: 904	The single ran thing is the O2 and VF collaboration.... Single RAN for both operators. In London it is just 4g that's been added to existing kit at the moment. Outside of London the older kit is been swapped and 4g added at the same time. This has been going on for some time in the west of the country. They are using the same equipment in the west as EE do and assume those swapped already will be 4g ready, just need the extra bits switching on. That will be backhaul dependant of course though. My feeling is that VF rollout will be rather quick

07-08-2013, 23:26	#31
wrexham103.4 Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 3,140	Quote: Originally Posted by denyo1977 So double the amount of data on a £26 SIM only plan compared to EE. http://www.chitterchatter.co.uk/4g-ee-sim-only-so-8.php 3GB £25 plus on EE you fall back on to Tmob/orange 3G, and believe me living in north wales and regularly traveling to west wales you wont find another network with better 3G coverage (yes even better than 3 in places) , im actually amazed with the rural 3G coverage from EE. im currently 5 miles from Bala (visiting and its bloody rural) and have full 3G signal with a 3meg download speed! considering the fixed line BB speed is around 1.5meg here, that aint half good in my book! Just look at the o2/voda 3g coverage in N wales away from north coast and English border - there isnt any! Im not an EE lover and will go with which ever network meets my needs coverage wise - 3G/4G, but atm EE does the job and im rarely with out 3G coverage never mind 2G

08-08-2013, 01:33	#32
The Lord Lucan Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Scotland Posts: 4,966	It will be interesting to see what O2/VF's coverage in London is like.. they get it wrong then they clearly didn't learn from EE's early mistakes. Quote: Originally Posted by John_Patrick They are using the same equipment in the west as EE do and assume those swapped already will be 4g ready, just need the extra bits switching on. That will be backhaul dependant of course though. My feeling is that VF rollout will be rather quick I wasn't aware that VF were using the Huawei BTS 3900A cabinets.... http://dc146.4shared.com/doc/qR54t5tm/preview.html Outside London it is likely O2 & VF's roll out will be the same.

08-08-2013, 08:23	#33
denyo1977 Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 695	Quote: Originally Posted by wrexham103.4 http://www.chitterchatter.co.uk/4g-ee-sim-only-so-8.php 3GB £25 plus on EE you fall back on to Tmob/orange 3G, and believe me living in north wales and regularly traveling to west wales you wont find another network with better 3G coverage (yes even better than 3 in places) , im actually amazed with the rural 3G coverage from EE. im currently 5 miles from Bala (visiting and its bloody rural) and have full 3G signal with a 3meg download speed! considering the fixed line BB speed is around 1.5meg here, that aint half good in my book! Just look at the o2/voda 3g coverage in N wales away from north coast and English border - there isnt any! Im not an EE lover and will go with which ever network meets my needs coverage wise - 3G/4G, but atm EE does the job and im rarely with out 3G coverage never mind 2G I never doubted that EE has got better 4G coverage (for now) or 3G coverage compared to Vodafone. My partner is on Vodafone and I personally wouldn't pay a "premium" price for their 3G coverage. Still doesn't change the fact that Vodafone offers more data for the same price on SIM only. For people who can pick between the two (only London at the beginning) it might be important. And quoting a price from a different website isn't really a fair comparison. Is there actually a reason why Chitter Chatter is banned on Hotukdeals? (I actually honestly don't know)

08-08-2013, 10:44	#34
John_Patrick Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Newcastle Posts: 904	Quote: Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan It will be interesting to see what O2/VF's coverage in London is like.. they get it wrong then they clearly didn't learn from EE's early mistakes. I wasn't aware that VF were using the Huawei BTS 3900A cabinets.... http://dc146.4shared.com/doc/qR54t5tm/preview.html Outside London it is likely O2 & VF's roll out will be the same. Yep, its the chinese stuff in the West, Swedish stuff in the East, Swedish stuff in the South West and the stuff from Finland in the South East. London is a mix of all three.

08-08-2013, 11:43	#35
uno Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Leicestershire Posts: 507	Why have Vodafone gone for such a mix of equipment ? It must be easier to have it all from one supplier for spare and service. I wonder what it is for the midlands like Leicester where I live as all I can see from the planning applications is cabinets names Lancaster,Spitfire and Hurricane.

08-08-2013, 13:20	#36
John_Patrick Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Newcastle Posts: 904	Quote: Originally Posted by uno Why have Vodafone gone for such a mix of equipment ? It must be easier to have it all from one supplier for spare and service. I wonder what it is for the midlands like Leicester where I live as all I can see from the planning applications is cabinets names Lancaster,Spitfire and Hurricane. They can use the mix of vendors to play each other of for price. If it was all one vendor they could effectively charge what they like. So, in a word, competition. Lancaster, spitfire, hurricane is the name of the enclosures that house the equipment when its street furniture sites.

08-08-2013, 14:53	#37
The Lord Lucan Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Scotland Posts: 4,966	Quote: Originally Posted by John_Patrick They can use the mix of vendors to play each other of for price. If it was all one vendor they could effectively charge what they like. So, in a word, competition. Lancaster, spitfire, hurricane is the name of the enclosures that house the equipment when its street furniture sites. I suppose it does provide some resilience but bugger me wouldn't like to be the guy overlooking it all. i'm pretty sure that said guy at O2 or VF was in an interview once and stressed that it was complicated. Saying that it's not simple at EE/MBNL One network part is Chinese and the other who has overall control is Swedish.

08-08-2013, 14:55	#38
Thine Wonk Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14,577	Quote: Originally Posted by John_Patrick They can use the mix of vendors to play each other of for price. If it was all one vendor they could effectively charge what they like. So, in a word, competition. Lancaster, spitfire, hurricane is the name of the enclosures that house the equipment when its street furniture sites. Couldn't each vendor competitive tender for the lot? That's what other networks do.

08-08-2013, 17:52	#39
uno Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Leicestershire Posts: 507	I just hope with all the traffic disruption Vodafone are causing around Leicester that the service will be good,With the last count 18 mast upgrades and cabinet changes this I am told is just the ones on public landor highway verges the private property ones are listed. along with 15 other notices of roadworks being done laying new fibre cables and trenches

08-08-2013, 19:47	#40
jabbamk1 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: London, UK Posts: 8,759	Can anyone tell me where this image is from? http://cdn.recombu.com/mobile/images..._w670_h240.png

08-08-2013, 20:10	#41
John_Patrick Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Newcastle Posts: 904	Quote: Originally Posted by Thine Wonk Couldn't each vendor competitive tender for the lot? That's what other networks do. They used to, but all networks use various vendors. Orange used to be a wholey NSN network. Had a wee dable with Alcatel Lucent for 3g but was swiftley removed. Its eventualy going to become Huawei for 2g/4g as part of the EE banner, retaining NSN for 3g Three started as NSN and NEC/Siemens, is now wholey NSN for 3G and will be samsung for 4G O2 used to be split Motorola/NSN, then went wholey NSN for 2g. When 3g was rolled out it was NSN in the south and Nortel in the North but Nortel was replaced by NSN so for a time it was wholey NSN. Its going to be a mix of NSN/Ericsson and huawei. Voda as far as I know, always were Ericsson for 2g and Ericsson and Nortel for 3G. Then ericsson and a little Alcatel for 3G in some areas. Its now a mix of NSN/Ericsson and Huawei as is O2. Tmobile I think was always ericsson for 2g, then NSN for 3g. Since the merge into EE, its going to be Huawei for 2g/4g but retaining NSN 3g as its built in with Three as part of MBNL.

08-08-2013, 20:11	#42
sethpet Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 494	Quote: Originally Posted by jabbamk1 Can anyone tell me where this image is from? http://cdn.recombu.com/mobile/images..._w670_h240.png Sent to a friend who works in Vodafone, he says its an internal matrix that was leaked. any reason why you ask? Might be able to get an answer for you

08-08-2013, 20:16	#43
jabbamk1 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: London, UK Posts: 8,759	Quote: Originally Posted by sethpet Sent to a friend who works in Vodafone, he says its an internal matrix that was leaked. any reason why you ask? Might be able to get an answer for you I just want to read the document really. Could be some interesting stuff.

08-08-2013, 20:18	#44
sethpet Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 494	Quote: Originally Posted by jabbamk1 I just want to read the document really. Could be some interesting stuff. suspect its from a retail training pack or something similar, looks like that sort of material.

08-08-2013, 20:25	#45
Rossby41 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 844	So much for rural fast mobile broadband then (the 800Mhz band).

08-08-2013, 21:20	#46
John_Patrick Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Newcastle Posts: 904	Quote: Originally Posted by Rossby41 So much for rural fast mobile broadband then (the 800Mhz band). Rome wasn't built in a day

DS Forums

Vodafone 4G to launch on 29th August & will cost £5 a month extra

09-08-2013, 01:22	#47
The Lord Lucan Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Scotland Posts: 4,966	Leaked officially Also isn't the Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile for free ONLY for 6 months...?

09-08-2013, 01:54	#48
Aye Up Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: North West Posts: 4,885	Quote: Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan Also isn't the Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile for free ONLY for 6 months...? I think in their press release they indicated both would be included as part of your subscription for upto 2 years (i.e. when most contracts renew).

09-08-2013, 02:31	#49
sethpet Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 494	It's only 6 months on the lowest plan, you get them for the whole contract term on the other plans is how I read it. Think some press have gotten this detail wrong. In the small print here says only the lowest tariffs are limited to 6 months. http://blog.vodafone.co.uk/2013/08/07/vodafone-4g/

09-08-2013, 03:16	#50
enapace Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 4,249	Quote: Originally Posted by sethpet It's only 6 months on the lowest plan, you get them for the whole contract term on the other plans is how I read it. Think some press have gotten this detail wrong. In the small print here says only the lowest tariffs are limited to 6 months. http://blog.vodafone.co.uk/2013/08/07/vodafone-4g/ Yeah you right just read. Also gives prices of there plans it sounds like a good gimmick if I am honest. Think it an epic fail that Vodafone sponsors F1 and that Sky sports F1 isn't included. Plus I noticed in the bottom comments section that the data needed for spotify or sky sports comes out of your plan. They are going make a killing I can imagine a lot of people are going go over there data allowance after first 3 months thinking that the data doesn't come out of your plan.