Vodafone has negotiated the reallocation of certain blocks 1800MHz spectrum with state railway authorities to aid its rollout of Long Term Evolution (LTE) services in capital cities.
The telco confirmed it had made “arrangements” with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) on blocks of spectrum in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
“We have now organised our spectrum into contiguous blocks in mainland capital cities that will support the roll out of LTE in all capital cities, once mass market handsets and mobile broadband devices are available at mass market prices,” Vodafone chief executive, Nigel Dews, said in a statement.
“We thank the railways for their co-operation to help reach a better public policy outcome.”
The telco flagged plans for LTE services in February when it signed a contract with Huawai to help replace all its 2G and 3G radio access equipment across its entire Australian network.
The major network initiative, which includes the replacement of equipment at all network sites, upgrades to existing sites and the rollout of an 850MHz network, followed repeated complaints from customers and industry groups about the quality of the telco’s network.
The telco follows Telstra, Optus and vividwireless, which have all announced plans to roll out LTE services across the country late this year and next.
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