Vodafone Australia to roll out LTE next year

Vodafone Australia has revealed plans to start deploying DC-HSPA+ from September, and roll out an LTE network in 2013.
 
In an announcement on its website, Vodafone Australia revealed it will roll out DC-HSPA+ - which the operator is calling 3G+ - in metropolitan areas of cities including Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
 
The company is promising an average downlink speed of 8Mbps on the 3G+ network. Currently the only compatible device Vodafone Australia offers is the new iPad. 
 
From 2013, the operator said it will start rolling out LTE in “selected areas,” although no details about the rollout schedule or locations have been provided.
 
Vodafone Australia, now one half of the joint venture Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA), has already been spending heavily to upgrade its network coverage and capacity, after repeated complaints from users over spotty performance.
 
In February 2011, the operator signed a major network overhaul deal with Huawei to replace its 2G and 3G base stations with multiformat gear.
 
Vodafone Australia has now revealed that this upgrade project is nearly complete, with only its equipment in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane still to be upgraded.
 
Last month, VHA also signed a deal with rival Optus that will allow the operators to share some 3G and 4G cell sites, and share the cost of deploying 500 more.
 
Australian incumbent operator Telstra commenced LTE services in areas of an initial four cities in May 2011.