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Vodafone 'reassures customers' about broadband speeds
Friday 28th August 2009, by Daniel King
Vodafone has announced the commencement of upgrades to its mobile broadband network and said this should reassure customers of its commitment to satisfying demands.
Rather than push for speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps, it will increase speeds to over 14 Mbps where there is the most need for access. London, Birmingham and Liverpool have already been upgraded, it said. Chief executive officer Jeni Mundy added that other locations will be dealt with on an "ongoing basis".
However, many websites have pointed out that such theoretical rates may not actually be achievable in reality no matter where in the UK they are accessed from.
ZDNet went so far as to say that 14.4 Mbps will "never" be reached - consumers using Vodafone's mobile broadband are more likely to get somewhere between 1 Mbps and 5 Mbps.
"A variety of factors - the two most influential being the distance from the nearest base station and the number of subscribers using the same station - mean the result is actually much lower," it explained.
The news follows an announcement yesterday that T-Mobile had been placed first in eight out of 15 customer metrics, which were measured for a YouGov survey on the subject of mobile broadband in Britain.
It won the title of winner in categories such as ease of use, installation and customer service, in addition to download speeds.
This could suggest that potential users are less worried about speed and more concerned with overall performance.
"Customers rate us highly for value for money and levels of service," explained Steve Mitchell, head of post-pay at T-Mobile. "[They] have the added assurance that we remain the only network to offer unlimited browsing without charging run-on rates."
Categories: Vodafone
