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Vodafone’s Third Generation mobile communication network, or 3G, will be available to all local clients within the course of this year. It will support a range of multimedia services and provide more efficient transmission of the services that are already available today.
“We have placed orders for all the equipment required in the first phase of deployment. Radio planning is ready and rollout of the 3G sites has commenced, while preparations are in hand for the core upgrades. Most of this work will be done by our engineers and technicians, who are undergoing the necessary training. Preparations are also well advanced in the commercial aspects of the service like new, attractive tariff packages made possible by the ample bandwidth available,” said Joseph Muscat, the Chief Technical Officer at Vodafone Malta.
3G offers new services like video telephony and improved voice quality with average downlink rates of around 300 kbit/s. This expands the potential for Vodafone to provide content-rich information and communication services through its Vodafone Live portal like full track music downloads, high-speed multimedia data services, mobile internet access, mobile TV and video streaming. The 3G network has a variety of services on offer and it enables multimedia calls like voice, video and data sessions, which is not possible on GSM.
For clients to access the 3G technology services, they would need to buy a 3G phone which frequently incorporates a built-in camera, MP3 player and a larger, more convenient viewing screen to support video telephony and new multimedia services. The price of such phones is rapidly decreasing and approaching those of current GSM mobiles.
3G has also been designed to be backward compatible, meaning that one can still enjoy GSM coverage and service levels from a 3G handset and experiencing 3G services where they are available. For this reason GSM services will continue to be offered by Vodafone Malta for several years. Likewise while roaming, Vodafone 3G subscribers will experience seamless service wherever a 3G or GSM network operates.
“A 3G handset can also be connected to a PC and be used to access the internet at the high data rates the service offers. Vodafone will offer its subscribers 3G combo cards that allow connection to 3G, GPRS and WiFi networks,” concluded Muscat.
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