LTE: New deal means extra LTE spectrum for Vodafone Australia

In further efforts towards expanding its rollout of LTE mobile broadband services mobile provider Vodafone Hutchison Australia has recently agreed a deal with the state rail authorities for access to its 1800MHz mobile broadband spectrum.

Mobile network operator Vodafone Hutchison Australia will soon be able to provide New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia with a contiguous block of spectrum thanks to a deal that will give it access to licences for the 1800MHz spectrum held by the Australasian Railway Association (ARA). This deal went through after approval from the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Nigel Dews, the chief executive for Vodafone advised in a recent statement “We have now organised our spectrum into contiguous blocks in mainland capital cities that will support the roll out of LTE in all capital cities, once mass market handsets and mobile broadband devices are available at mass market prices. We thank the railways for their co-operation to help reach a better public policy outcome.”

The ARA has advised that when the 1800MHz licences that it currently holds expire in 2013 it will be considering putting them up for auction and this is something that will be of great interest to many of the mobile network providers like Vodafone.

With the auctioning of the 700MHz wireless spectrum not due until the end of 2012 and the huge importance of deploying next generation LTE network for mobile providers like Vodafone, the need for the 1800MHz spectrum is now even more vital.

Every mobile network provider in Australia has now announced that they will be rolling out their next generation LTE mobile broadband services using the 1800MHz digital spectrum.

Source – Telecoms