Mobile Connect now dual mode
Mobile Europe will watch with interest the market response to Vodafone’s launch of its 3G/ GPRS data card service in the UK. Although Vodafone went for a relatively low-key launch, such is the desperation for renewed signs of consumer interest in 3G there will undoubtedly be a lot riding on how the service is received. We have a reporter at a press briefing being held today so will let you know if anything significantly different from the information below comes out of that.
Vodafone is offering the service to larger business through its own business unit and reseller channel and, but is also offering the cards to individual or SMEs through 64 selected retail outlets. Presumably if there is great demand for the cards this will be extended to more shops.
At the moment there are four pricing bundles, from £10 per month for a 5MB worth of data up to £85 per month for a “power user”, who will get 500MB worth of mobile data. Intermediate prices at set at £20 for 25MB and £45 for 150MB. Business users will get twice the data bundle for their money of they sign up before October 2004. Vodafone says its user profiles are based on “extensive research” carried out with its trial customers. Not that you’d expect them to say, “These prices are a shot in the dark, frankly we haven’t got a clue how much data people are going to use when they start using 3G.”
Vodafone’s wording about coverage is slightly obtuse. It says it has, “30% network coverage (equating to 41% geographic areas of the Vodafone UK network where data traffic is currently carried).”
Despite the fact that, theoretically, all of Vodafone’s GSM network can carry data, we take this to mean 40% of its GPRS network is now UMTS enabled. At any rate, these are the areas Vodafone gives as currently having 3G coverage: London, M25, along the M4 corridor (London to Newbury) and in Bristol, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Southampton, Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Belfast.
Vodafone also says that roaming is available in Italy, Netherlands, Japan, Spain and Portugal. This will be on GPRS until Vodafone has 3G services up and running in each of those markets.
Vodafone is also publicising a downlink speed will be a theoretical maximum of 384 kbps, dependent, as Mobile Europe readers will know, on cell conditions and signal strength.
Current GPRS Mobile Connect customers will have to wait until their 12 month subscription runs out before they can upgrade to the dual mode card. So if you want 3G and you’ve signed up for a GPRS Mobile Connect card, bad luck.