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Vodafone, the world’s second largest mobile carrier, has announced that it will begin a 4G network rollout in the United Kingdom on August 29. The company has said that service will begin in London and will expand to twelve more cities within the UK by the end of the year, and is claiming that it will have 98% indoor coverage across the UK within the next few years.
Price plans will begin at £26 a month without a mobile device for unlimited calls, texts, and 2GB of data, or £34 for a plan that includes a 4G ready device, unlimited calls and texts, and 500MB of data, and existing customers with a 4G ready device can upgrade for an additional £5.
Vodafone is also offering customers the chance to trade in devices for discounts toward 4G ready devices, with sign ups beginning on the 12th of this month both in store or online. Notably, Apple's iPhone 5 will not be compatible with Vodafone's 4G LTE service due to differences in frequency support, although many expect the issue to be resolved with the launch of the iPhone 5S as soon as next month.
The company is also offering unlimited data for the first three months of service when a customer signs up with a new plan, as well as a promotional deal for Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile TV for six months depending on the tariff.
Vodafone's announcement news comes after O2 announced last week that it would become the second British carrier to offer 4G service, and also joins carrier EE, which launched its 4G network last October. Currently, EE’s 4G network is the only one of the three British carriers to be compatible with the iPhone 5’s 4G LTE bands.
Top Rated Comments
I really hope Three continue to succeed and show the others how its done.
You think it'll be all you can eat?
Yep. Threes press statement said all existing customers will just get it free with no fees
The tariffs work out better value than EE
EDIT: when I say good value, I mean in relation to vodafone's current 3G tariffs. I still don't like anybodies 4G tariffs for myself, as I don't use many minutes. I'm looking forward to see tesco mobile's 4G offerings, along with their anytime upgrade tariffs, might be really compelling
They've said it will launch in Q4. But they are in no rush apparently as they are happy with their current Ultrafast network. Which is understandable, they offer faster data speeds than EE.
Surely not as fast as EE's 4G network though?
Most carriers (except for Three) have terrible data plans. £34 p/m for 500MB data is an absolute joke. Even EE's closest tariff offers 1.5GB (for £36 p/m), which is still shocking for a network built for the data! We don't need unlimited calls and texts!!
I predict Three will gain A LOT of new customers over the next few months.
I still can't understand why all the other networks except Three have such bad data allowances. What year do they think we live in?
Greedy extortionists if you ask me!