Vodafone broadens and simplifies mobile broadband

Vodafone UK is to embark upon a multi-million pound investment to both extend the coverage and simplify the service offerings of its mobile broadband network in the UK .

Beginning in June 2008, and expected to compete by Autumn, Vodafone UK ’s mobile broadband networks will now cover Birmingham , Bristol , Glasgow , Liverpool, Manchester and Reading . These five cities and town respectivley will join London and major British airports where Vodafone rolled out a mobile broadband service in 2007.

As part of its plans to simplify the way it sells mobile broadband services to customers, Vodafone says that customers can expect to see more information at the point of sale to help them understand the time it will take to download files, films and music on the mobile broadband network.

Vodafone will offer mobile broadband services using what it calls 7.2 and 1.8 and technology which offer typical speeds of delivery that differ roughly by a factor of three.

 For example with the former, Vodafone says that users can expect to receive a 20-minute (150 Mbyte) video in 10 minutes and within 25 minutes with option 1.8. For a 5 Mbyte presentation it is either 20 or 50 seconds; one or three seconds for a 250 Kbyte Word document.

The number of emails a customer can expect to download or the number of web pages they can browse will also be more clearly illustrated. Details will be made available in store, online and through contact centres from June.