Press Release | 29 Aug 2013

VODAFONE LAUNCHES 4G IN LONDON

  • Arrival of Ultrafast 4G to boost capital’s economy and give Londoners a choice: sport or music?
  • Vodafone supports London’s digital infrastructure by doubling network investment to £100m this year
  • Vodafone switching on a new site every 30 minutes in the capital over the next two months
  • Ultrafast 4G coming to Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield within a month as Vodafone pushes towards 98% population coverage

Vodafone UK has today launched Ultrafast 4G in London, bringing a choice of fantastic sports or music entertainment to Londoners and boosting the capital’s businesses with faster speeds, bigger data allowances and the ability to share that data across at no extra cost.

Vodafone Ultrafast 4G brings the capital’s music and sports lovers a choice of either access to Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile TV. That’s more than 20 million tracks from the world’s best known streaming music provider; or the best in live action football from across the Premier League and Championship, tennis, cricket, golf and rugby. All that on top of unlimited data for the first three months, then double Vodafone’s standard data allowances, plus unlimited calls and texts.

Ultrafast 4G services will also help businesses to raise their game by helping people work where they want to, when they want to. Almost nine out of ten business leaders (86%) believe 4G will increase their productivity by providing a genuine ‘in-office’ experience wherever they are, according to recent research by Vodafone.* In total the arrival of competitive 4G services could boost London’s economy by as much as £1.5bn a year, according to further independent research.**

Vodafone’s 4G-ready plans went on sale on August 12, in time for the start of the new Premier League season, and even before the network had gone live, more than 20,000 people had joined up. All customers on Vodafone Red 4G-ready and Vodafone Red Business 4G-ready will get a 4G service in London from today.

The Mayor of London’s Deputy Mayor for business and enterprise, Kit Malthouse, said: “This is already one of the world’s greatest centres for digital and innovation, but 4G coverage means Londoners and businesses will be able to access some of the fastest wireless internet services in the world. Vodafone’s investment will allow thousands more to take advantage of 4G, and help London to take a significant step towards the £1.5bn boost to London’s economy that 4G potentially provides.

Guy Laurence, CEO, Vodafone UK said: “Vodafone Ultrafast 4G is here and we’re giving people a reason to get excited about it as we switch on a new site every 30 minutes. We’re bringing the capital closer to the action with Sky Sports and letting Londoners stream 20 million tracks with Spotify. We’re also giving the city’s busy businesses a boost by helping them take their office with them when they’re out and about. In fact, in the few days since we launched our 4G plans, more than 20,000 people have signed up. So, the question for Londoners now is: which do you want – music or sport?

To support the rollout of Ultrafast 4G and deliver all the great benefits that it will bring to Londoners, Vodafone has doubled its investment in the capital’s digital infrastructure this year, spending £100m to bring the city the service it deserves. In London, Vodafone is now connecting a new site every 30 minutes during every working day. In total, Vodafone is spending more than £900m this year on its network across the country and that comes after Vodafone spent £802m acquiring the widest portfolio of mobile spectrum in this year’s auction. That portfolio includes the crucial low-frequency spectrum that means Vodafone’s Ultrafast 4G signal will travel further into buildings.

Following London, Vodafone will launch 4G services in Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield within a month. By the end of the year, Vodafone Ultrafast 4G, with speeds typically six times faster than 3G, will also be switched on in Bradford, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.*** Vodafone is targeting indoor 4G coverage across 98% of the UK population by 2015.

For further information:
Vodafone UK Media Relations
Telephone: 01635 666777

https://newscentre.vodafone.co.uk/

Notes to editors

*Vodafone research showing that 86% of businesses believe that 4G will increase their productivity, was conducted with 554 organizational leaders across UK PLC and is available at: http://www.yourbetterbusiness.co.uk/perspective_4g_in_the_workplace.

**Estimates of economic benefit to the capital based on independent research by Capital Economics which found that 4G, when deployed to the population, could increase GDP by 0.5% across the UK. Research was based upon investment “made by the mobile telephone network operators” and deployment “by the mobile network operators”. The London specific figure is based on applying this to the Gross Value Added per head (GVA+ taxes – subsidies = GDP) of the capital’s population of 8 million.

***Vodafone Ultrafast 4G services with speeds typically 6 times faster than Vodafone 3G, based on pre-launch network, may vary due to coverage and demand.

Vodafone Red 4G-ready for consumers
12 month SIM only plans:

RedRed 4G-readyRed LRed 4G-ready LRed XLRed 4G-ready XLWi-Fi allowance
MinutesUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
TextsUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
Data1GB2GB2GB4GB4GB8GB
£21£26£26£31£31£36750MB
Sport or music Included?NoYes †NoYes ††NoYes ††
† Customers opting for the SIM only Red 4G-ready plan with 2GB, starting at £26 a month, can choose to have either Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile TV included for the first six months. They are then charged at £4.99 per month for Sky Sports Mobile TV or £9.99 a month for Spotify Premium. Customers can cancel at any time and will still get double the standard data allowance and 4G service.
†† Customers on the SIM only Red 4G-ready L plan with 4GB (starting at £31) and the SIM only Red 4G-ready XL plan with 8GB (starting at £36) get Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile TV included for the whole 12 months of their contract. At the end of the year, they are then charged at £4.99 per month for Sky Sports Mobile TV or £9.99 a month for Spotify Premium. Customers can cancel at any time and will still get double the standard data allowance and 4G service.

 

24 month contracts (with 4G handset):

Vodafone already has a range of 4G-ready devices available today. On the new price plans (as below) the Samsung GALAXY S4 Mini is available with no up-front cost on the Red 4G-ready plan starting from £34 a month with 2GB of data and 6 months of premium content. Samsung Galaxy S4 is available with no up-front cost on the Red 4G-ready L plan starting from £43 a month with 4GB of data and two years of premium content.

RedRed 4G-readyRed LRed 4G-ready LRed XLRed 4G-ready XLWi-Fi allowance
MinutesUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
TextsUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
Data1GB2GB2GB4GB4GB8GB
£42£47£47£52£52£573GB
£37£42£42£47£47£522GB
£33£38£38£43£43£481GB
£29£34£34£39£39£44500MB
£29£34250MB
Sport or music Included?NoYes †NoYes ††NoYes ††

 

† Customers opting for the Red 4G-ready plan with 2GB, starting at £34 a month, can choose to have either Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile TV included for the first six months. They are then charged at £4.99 per month for Sky Sports Mobile TV or £9.99 a month for Spotify Premium. Customers can cancel at any time and will still get double the standard data allowance and 4G service.
†† Customers on the Red 4G-ready L plan with 4GB and the Red 4G-ready XL plan with 8GB get Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile TV included for the whole two years of their contract. At the end of the two years, they are then charged at £4.99 per month for Sky Sports Mobile TV or £9.99 a month for Spotify Premium. Customers can cancel at any time and will still get double the standard data allowance and 4G service.

 

12 month contracts (with 4G handset):

RedRed 4G-readyRed LRed 4G-ready LRed XLRed 4G-ready XLWi-Fi allowance
MinutesUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
TextsUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
Data1GB2GB2GB4GB4GB8GB
£47£52£52£57£57£621GB
Sport or music Included?NoYes †NoYes ††NoYes ††
† Customers opting for the Red 4G-ready plan, starting at £52 a month, can choose to have either Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile TV included for the first six months. They are then charged at £4.99 per month for Sky Sports Mobile TV or £9.99 a month for Spotify Premium. Customers can cancel at any time and will still get double the standard data allowance and 4G service.
†† Customers on the Red 4G-ready L plan (£57) and the Red 4G-ready XL plan (£62) get Spotify Premium or Sky Sports Mobile TV included for the whole 12 months of their contract. At the end of the year, they are then charged at £4.99 per month for Sky Sports Mobile TV or £9.99 a month for Spotify Premium. Customers can cancel at any time and will still get double the standard data allowance and 4G service.

Spotify Premium and Sky Sports Mobile TV – which provides access to Sky Sports 1 and 2 – are available on selected iOS and Android smartphones. For more information, please visit vodafone.co.uk/4g.

Access to either Sky Sports Mobile TV or Spotify Premium is included in a customer’s plan, streaming live sports or streaming music will use a customer’s data allowance.

 

Vodafone Red Business 4G-ready for businesses
12 month SIM only plans (ex-VAT):

Red Business 4G-readyRed Business 4G-ready LRed XLWi-Fi allowance
MinutesUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
TextsUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
Data2GB4GB8GB
£21.67£25.83£30750MB
With Optional One Net Express Included£31.67£35.83£40

 

24 month contracts, with 4G handset
(prices quoted include optional One Net Express at £10 extra per month):

On the new 4G-ready price plans, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is available for no up-front cost on Vodafone Red Business 4G- ready from £38.33 (ex-VAT) with 2GB of data and optional One Net Express included and on Vodafone Red Business 4G-ready L from £42.50 (ex-VAT) with 4GB of data and optional One Net Express included.

The BlackBerry Q10 is available for no up-front cost on Vodafone Red Business 4G-ready L from £45.83 (ex-VAT) with 4GB of data and optional One Net Express included and on Vodafone Red Business 4G-ready XL from £50.00 (ex-VAT) with 4GB of data and optional One Net Express included.
The Nokia 925 is available for at a one-off cost of £82.50 on Vodafone Red Business 4G-ready at £38.33 (excluding VAT) with 2GB of data and optional One Net Express included.

Red BusinessRed Business 4G-readyRed Business LRed Business 4G-ready LRed Business XLRed Business 4G-ready XLWi-Fi allowance
MinutesUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
TextsUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
Data1GB2GB2GB4GB4GB8GB
£45£49.17£49.17£53.33£53.33£57.503GB
£40.83£45£45£49.17£49.17£53.332GB
£37.50£41.67£41.67£45.83£45.83£49.171GB
£34.17£38.33£38.33£42.50£42.50£46.67500MB
Sport or music Included?NoYes †NoYes ††NoYes ††

Optional One Net Express
With Vodafone One Net Express, there’s no need for a separate fixed landline for voice communications. Customers can keep their current landline number or add a virtual one to their mobile phone for £10 per month. Incoming calls are routed to the mobile with no divert charges. Users with two or more mobile phones can enjoy call handling features such as auto attendant and multi-user hunt groups.

About Vodafone UK

Vodafone UK is a technology communications company that connects people, businesses and devices to help our customers benefit from digital innovation. Our services span mobile, fixed-line connections, home and office broadband, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

We have a strong track record as a tech pioneer, making the UK’s first mobile phone call, sending the first text message, and making the UK’s first live holographic call using 5G in 2018. We were the first to start carrying live 5G traffic from a site in Salford, Greater Manchester and now have 5G in locations across Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain as well as the UK. Meanwhile, our 4G network coverage currently reaches over 99% of the UK population.

Today, Vodafone serves more than 18 million mobile and fixed-line customers in the UK. Vodafone is the largest provider of full fibre in the UK – our superfast broadband services are now available to nearly 12 million homes across the UK.

Sustainability is also at the heart of what we do: as of 1 July 2021, 100% of the grid electricity we use in the UK is certified to be from renewable sources.

For more information about Vodafone UK, please visit: www.vodafone.co.uk.

Vodafone UK Media Relations

Telephone: +44 (0) 1635 693 693

Email: ukmediarelations@vodafone.com

Twitter: @VodafoneUKNews

Website: https://vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/

Vodafone Limited

Registered Office: Vodafone House, The Connection, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2FN

Registered in England No: 1471587