Vodafone is set to upgrade its mobile network over the course of the next 3 years by boosting capacity. It will increase its capital investment to over £1 billion across the UK. This comes after Vodafone sold its £81 billion stake in Verizon and the newly flourished company intends to spend £150 million of its capital to upgrade and renew the London network. Verizon promises the new network will reduce dropped calls and double its 3G reach and it will continue to further its 4G coverage across London. The CEO of Vodafone is angered by the apparent slow speed of Vodafone's network in London, so what better way to fix it than spend £150 million to satisfy his needs.
However, the CEO also thinks that having this 'superior' network compared to other networks, that he has the right to now charge more for his network usage and while there are many advantages given to customers such as reduced dropped calls and allowing more 3G and 4G coverage to the citizens of London, this is debatable. The exact speed that will be available to is quoted to be over 3MB per second, this is a much greater speed than it is currently and this will be achieved by making sure each mast is connected to its IP transmission. Geeky.
This upgrade of the network is also expected to allow greater indoor capacity and coverage for existing and future Vodafone customers. Of course it could be argued that this upgrade is a necessity, considering Ofcom decided Vodafone was not making a good enough effort to follow its 3G coverage obligations. It's also probably noteworthy that this upgrade is planned to improve the quality of Vodafone's network across the whole of Europe and other "emerging markets" across the world and doesn't pertain purely to London and the UK. Big ambitions here from the once small network company.
Alongside this upgrade, 'Project Spring' is set to be announced on Tuesday which will be an additional £6 billion spending plan. If you're interested in joining the Vodafone network, make sure you get one of their free SIMs delivered straight to your house on the Vodafone website or just search "Vodafone free sim" on Google.
