Vodafone 4G – Not Until 2011 / 2012
Vodafone seems to be in no hurry to roll out a 4G phone network. Although Vodafone is currently testing a 4G network in Germany its CEO, Vittorio Colao, says the phone company would not need to commercially launch 4G until the end of 2011 or 2012.
Instead, Vodafone may increase 3G speed before 4G was needed, he said.
Around 40% of the Vodafone network has been upgraded to 7.2 Mbit/s with plans for 21 Mbit/s (HSPA+) hotspots.
UK 4G Coming
UK mobile phone operator O2 is expecting have a test 4G mobile network running by the summer of 2010.
The parent company of O2, Telefonica, has already announced 4G tests for the UK and five other countries of the next generation of mobile broadband technology.
The LTE trials will be the first carried out by any UK mobile phone operator – although Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone have said they intend to roll out 4G networks in the future.
Vodafone Testing 4G in Germany
Vodafone is to start 4G tests in Germany from “this summer”, which by my watch means any time now.
The tests are designed to help plan mobile broadband services for rural and urban areas of Germany and will use mobile technology supplied by Huawei.
