Vodafone has announced that it has made the UK’s first voice call
over a 3G (third generation) network, one year before it is due to
launch its service. However, the announcement made no mention of
internet, music and video capabilities that are usually cited as
justification for the major investment in 3G. This implies that it
has still to get these services working.
An Ericsson mobile phone was used to make the call over
Vodafone’s network of 30 base stations in the Thames Valley.
The 3G service is due to be launched by Vodafone in the second
half of 2002. The company said that initial handsets will also work
with its GRPS (General Packet Radio Service, known as 2.5G)
network.
“Our announcement of the first 3G voice call marks yet another
significant milestone in the development of our multimedia services
and forms part of our rollout plans for 3G mobile,” said Gavin
Darby, Chief Operating Officer of Vodafone UK. “We successfully
launched our GPRS network on 2nd April which provides customers
with faster data-speeds, ‘always on’ connectivity and greater cost
effectiveness as we introduce billing based on quantity of data
transferred rather than time ‘on-line’.”
