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Vodafone has been conspicuously absent in the Australian 4G race. While Telstra and Optus have been expanding their LTE networks in fairly close competition, Vodafone has been making do with its dual-channel 3G+ network that, while admittedly offers pretty decent max speeds, is a far cry from what LTE can offer.
Originally we’d heard that Vodafone were aiming to flip the 4G switch this year in February. As Feb past, with Vodafone remaining conspicuously silent, we figured that things weren’t running too smoothly and made a mental note to keep an eye out for announcements.
Now, Vodafone has added the Samsung Galaxy S3 4G to its online store, where before it only offered the 3G HSPA+ variant.
This could mean that Vodafone finally offering 4G LTE to its Aussie customers could finally be a thing in the very near future.
Should this be the case, it’s curious that Vodafone wouldn’t have mentioned it yet. The carrier is already taking names for updates on the Galaxy S4 and the HTC One features prominently on the website. The Xperia Z is already available on plans, up for $0 on a $60 monthly contract. These three new flagship phones have 4G LTE capable models, so customers would be understandably more likely to consider Vodafone as an option if they knew it was going to be able to support these devices to the full extent of their capabilities.
There is mention on the Vodafone site of 4G, specifically that it’s “ready to fly“, but there’s hardly been any major marketing push towards alerting the public at large yet.
We’re pretty keen for Vodafone to make the jump to 4G LTE. If nothing else, more competition in Australia’s 4G market will only spur all carriers on to increase high-speed wireless coverage across the nation with even more expediency.
