Locals and businesses in the South East will soon have access to improved 4G and 5G mobile phone services as Vodafone gets ready to double its network and boost mobile competition to thousands of regional communities across the country.
The network expansion will switch on in early 2025, tripling the number of mobile sites Vodafone has in regional Australia.
This will double the mobile operator’s geographical coverage across Australia to more than one million square kilometres and increase its population coverage to 98.4%.
TPG Telecom (who own Vodafone) Head of Government Relations Ross Mitchell said this is great news for Vodafone customers across South Australia where access to an additional 242 mobile sites will increase Vodafone’s regional network in the state by 52%, resulting in a more than threefold boost to coverage for customers.
“This network expansion will supercharge Vodafone’s mobile services, providing better coverage, performance and speed for customers where they live, work and play through rural and regional Australia,” he said.
“The region attracts more than 622,000 visitors annually and this network upgrade will help ensure they have access to reliable coverage on their journey and at their destination.
“This puts our coverage in line with what competitors are offering and it means that we can bring choice and value to regional Australia in a way that we have never been able to do before.
“Whether you are living and working in Mount Gambier itself, you’re going to have a far better network coverage then you have ever had before but it also means that if you’re driving back through to Adelaide through Penola all along that highway is going to be far better cover then it has ever been before.
“If you choose the other option and it’s the weekend and you’re going g across to Melborune, the highway across to Warrnambool and beyond is just chalk and cheese to what we have had previously and a far better network coverage.”
In the Limestone Coast an additional 50 mobile sites will be connected, improving region’s coverage, mobile performance and reliability.
The expansion has been made possible through an innovative network sharing deal between Vodafone and Optus in regional Australia.
Under this arrangement, Vodafone will access 2444 Optus mobile sites in regional Australia to expand its network reach.
The two telcos will also share their wireless spectrum – the invisible airwaves that make mobile services possible – to deliver improved service quality and speeds for customers.
Mr Mitchell assured consumers that while the two wireless service providers will share the same mobile towers, consumers of each operator will not be effected by one another.
“The way that it works with the regional sharing network arrangement with Optus is that both sides maintain control of their own networks so they’re two independent networks,” he said.
“We can offer our own products on these towers and importantly, all of our customers are contained on our own network so it’s very secure still.”
Once live in early 2025, customers will have immediate access to 5G where available, and across the country 4G coverage will increase to one million square kilometres.
