Vodafone began a limited roll-out of its 4G mobile network in some parts of London on 29 August, and was accused at the time of taking a "very conservative approach" to 4G. The company has now announced that it will launch the service in another five cities – Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield – on 28 September.
This means that any customers in those cities with a 4G-ready phone and a Vodafone Red 4G-ready plan will be able to access speeds typically six times faster than 3G on its new "ultrafast" mobile network, although Vodafone says that speeds may vary due to coverage and demand.
By the end of the year, Vodafone's 4G network will also be switched on in Bradford, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle. Vodafone is targeting indoor 4G coverage across 98 per cent of the UK population by 2015. Vodafone has also announced that customers who sign up for any of its Red 4G-ready plans before the end of October will get an extra 4GB of data per month for the length of their contract.
Vodafone Red 4G-ready starts at £26 per month for a 12 month SIM-only plan, which now comes with 6GB of data rather than 2GB, and £34 per month for a 24 month plan with a handset included, which now also comes with 6GB of data. The maximum amount of data that customers can get on a contract is now 12GB rather than 8GB. Vodafone has also previously announced that all of its 4G customers will get unlimited UK data for the first three months.
Vodafone is also offering its Red 4G-ready customers a choice of free mobile access to Sky Sports Mobile TV or free access to the Spotify Premium music streaming service for six months as part of their package. After the introductory period each will cost an extra £4.99 per month.
Source: The Telegraph
