Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ:VOD) said it reached a major landmark in its core network upgrade as its 5.3 million customers are now using Ericsson-designed infrastructure for 4G data sessions.
Vodafone’s CTO Benoit Hanssen said that the core network upgrade would reduce the company’s costs, as Vodafone works to broaden its network coverage beyond the 96 percent coverage.
Subsequent to network upgrade, Vodafone customers will enjoy the leverage of making voice calls while continuing with 4G data services, Hanssen revealed. With Ericsson’s adoption of Network Virtualization (NFV), Vodafone’s new core network agility will improve significantly leading to reduced operational costs. Automatically, customers will start experiencing 4G services encompassing downloading, uploading, and streaming content on their mobiles.
Vodafone claims the new network that is being opened up towards the end of the year will have faster connectivity and two to three times as fast as mobile calls today. We expect that customer demand for 4G data to go up in the coming period. The new service will enable customers stay connected with the 4G network while receiving calls rather than switching to 3G, clarified Hanssen.
Elaborating on the network upgrade, the CTO said that the company through its investment has developed a potent, unfaltering and reliable network and it is building on that with the diversification of its new world-class core network.
One of the major benefits of new network is that customers will enjoy multitasking on 4G on their smartphones. For instance, a customer can have access to 4G data speed and browse the net while having a talk on the same device.
Recently, Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ:VOD) completed making upgradation to its service and deployed 850MHz and 1800MHz career aggregation across its 4G metropolitcan network. The company believes new network would provide quicker and more reliable data services to customers.
In its endeavor to create the country’s new mobile service, Vodafone struck a five-year deal with Ericsson in Aug, 2014, to build its new core network.
