News - Vodafone UK 4G launch pushed back to await iPhone 5S arrival

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Voda’s 4G network will now debut in August or September rather than next month.

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I've decided my next phone will have LTE so this disappoints me a bit. My contract is due up this week but I'm sure as **** not going anywhere near EE. Currently on three and happy, so I may as well wait until they launch their 4G service and get a phone release later this year.

It's stupid that 4G is going to cost consumers more. Technology is always on the move, and as these companies slowly adopt it, they shouldn't expect people to pay more for what becomes standard. If they keep increasing the price every time a new technology comes out, we will be paying hundreds of pounds a month for basic packages.

Increase data caps for a start. There's no reason why they should limit people to anything under 10GB a month. It's 2013, we have music streaming services on mobile like Spotify and movie streaming like Netflix. We can live stream via mobile. What the hell is a 1GB data cap for (£41 a month on EE), one SD movie a month? Come on.

You're looking at £76 a month with a 24 month contract for EEs 20GB tier. Not even an unlimited tier. Nobody in their right mind is going to pay for that unless they are super rich.

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Originally Posted by Kushan

I've decided my next phone will have LTE so this disappoints me a bit. My contract is due up this week but I'm sure as **** not going anywhere near EE. Currently on three and happy, so I may as well wait until they launch their 4G service and get a phone release later this year.

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Originally Posted by mupet0000

It's stupid that 4G is going to cost consumers more. rich.

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4G won't cost any more on three than their current tariffs - so they say. They will also continue to offer the same data allowances.

Its funny that Vodaphone have gone this way considering only the other day their profits were down for Europe and they had released more competitive tariffs to entice people back. Seems to go against those comments.

Also I think Vodaphone are trying a PR stunt to position themselfs as the premium dog's bollocks phone provider with the rip of prices to go with the (so called) premium phone with a rip of price.

Well that takes the piss. Most iphone owners don't even know what 4G is.

It's a big joke for Vodafone customers in East Anglia, anyway.
We haven't had a reliable Vodafone 2G signal, ever. The 3G is practically non-existent. There are huge black-spots opening up across many counties. They've known for months and the situation worsens daily. Vodafone clearly have no intention of returning the service to the rural areas.

The ongoing struggle has been well documented with local press. Try fixing the existing network, Vodafone!

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Originally Posted by MrBozack

It's a big joke for Vodafone customers in East Anglia, anyway.
We haven't had a reliable Vodafone 2G signal, ever. The 3G is practically non-existent. There are huge black-spots opening up across many counties. They've known for months and the situation worsens daily. Vodafone clearly have no intention of returning the service to the rural areas.

The ongoing struggle has been well documented with local press. Try fixing the existing network, Vodafone!

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Agree with you completly there.

Before they start rolling out 4G, should 3G coverage be sorted. I find that the coverage is terrible for 3G in my local area. And it looks like 4G will only be in the major towns and cities

Ok if you live in Edinburgh or Manchester. No good if you live in a little rural town.

Fix the infrastructure before the signals are upgraded.

interesting from the reuters article is that component suppliers are all trying to move their reliance away from Apple, this will increase Apple's costs considerably meaning they will make less profit both of which will hit their stock/share price causing a whole slew of additional problems. I really do think that Apple's current bubble has burst. Plus Samsung has sold 10 million S4's already and according to a source (can't find it right now) that means that both the S3 AND the S4 are outselling iPhones now...

i'm on EE (Orange) and regulary get 'No Service' on my phone in my house or around where i go, sometimes i have bars of 3G yet cannot make or receive calls or websites, this has even happened in Manchester, they should all make sure the 3G service is upto task before wondering to 4G!

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Originally Posted by Brewster0101

4G won't cost any more on three than their current tariffs - so they say. They will also continue to offer the same data allowances.

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And there, my esteemed sir, is my major problem with ALL the current (and announced) 4G offerings. The "fine, we're 'giving' you a fancy new high speed network, but we'll do our damnedest to discourage from using it' attitude. The only one I've less opprobrium for is Three - mainly because they seem to be less bad (note - not good) than the rest.

If you're buying a 4G service then I'd expect a minimum cap of 10GB/month, anything less than that is - imho - an insult, especially at the "premium" rates that they're expecting to charge.

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Originally Posted by deejayburnout

Agree with you completly there. Before they start rolling out 4G, should 3G coverage be sorted. I find that the coverage is terrible for 3G in my local area. And it looks like 4G will only be in the major towns and cities. Ok if you live in Edinburgh or Manchester. No good if you live in a little rural town. Fix the infrastructure before the signals are upgraded.

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Well according to folk here (from previous discourse on the subject) one of the big advantages of 4G would be enhanced signal strength/coverage (can't remember which). That being the case, I can see why a lot of companies would prefer to rollout "premium" 4G services rather than "waste" money on old 3G tech.

But I know very well what you're talking about - there's places on the riversides (both of them) where my old Three phone would get NO signal - note, not "no 3G signal", instead the phone became utterly useless. E.g. I was near Newport-on-Tay (so that's got Dundee opposite) and Limekilns (in sight of Edinburgh) and no signal. That's one reason I moved to T-Mobile (sorry, "EE" is just a stupid name) and now I don't have those problems (although the data rates are slower than on Three).

Not that impressed with Voda - I've got a works-issue SIM in my 2G feature phone and it's okay, but their data plans always struck me as poor value for money.

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Originally Posted by MrBozack

It's a big joke for Vodafone customers in East Anglia, anyway.
We haven't had a reliable Vodafone 2G signal, ever. The 3G is practically non-existent. There are huge black-spots opening up across many counties. They've known for months and the situation worsens daily. Vodafone clearly have no intention of returning the service to the rural areas.

The ongoing struggle has been well documented with local press. Try fixing the existing network, Vodafone!

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Originally Posted by deejayburnout

Agree with you completly there.

Before they start rolling out 4G, should 3G coverage be sorted. I find that the coverage is terrible for 3G in my local area. And it looks like 4G will only be in the major towns and cities

Ok if you live in Edinburgh or Manchester. No good if you live in a little rural town.

Fix the infrastructure before the signals are upgraded.

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Hi MrBozak and deejayburnout,

It's a shame to read about the problems which you've experienced with the network.

So we can help you further I'd recommend following the troubleshooting steps on our eForum.

Unfortunately as I'm a new member I can't post a link to it. However, you'll be able to find the information in the Network Issues thread, which can be found in the Network Updates section of the eForum.

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK