Vodafone UK Makes First 3G Voice Call

date: April 16, 2001 - source by: prnewswire.com/

Vodafone UK today announces that it has successfully conducted the UK's first live voice call over its third generation (3G) network. Together with Ericsson, Vodafone UK's principal 3G infrastructure supplier, the call was made this afternoon from a prototype 3G mobile from one of Vodafone's six chosen 3G handset manufacturers, over Vodafone's initial 3G network of 30 radio base stations in the Thames Valley.

"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," commented Gavin Darby, Chief Operating Officer of Vodafone UK. "We successfully launched our GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) network on 2 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'."

He continued, ``The introduction of GPRS is an integral part of the evolution towards 3G, enabling the development of Vodafone's 3G and GPRS services and applications. We are already seeing the introduction of new and innovative services that customers can benefit from here and now. The advent of a new generation of mobile multimedia services will enable our customers to live more of their lives through their mobile device and we are delighted to be at the forefront of these developments.''

"Ericsson is very proud to be principal supplier to leading operators like Vodafone that want to pioneer and get a head start in the highly competitive new market of GPRS (2.5 G) and 3G," said Mats Dahlin, Executive Vice President and Head of Ericsson's Mobile Systems Division. "It is a sign of confidence in Ericsson's ability to bring the latest mobile technology to work, using global and stable standards in which Ericsson has been a major driving force since the birth of mobile telephony."

A progressive roll out of Vodafone's 3G network has been underway since Autumn 2000 and it is anticipated that commercial 3G services will be launched in the second half of 2002. At launch it is likely that major conurbations and transportation routes will be the principal focus and by 2007, Vodafone hopes to have exceeded its license obligation of covering 80% of the UK's population.

Dual mode handsets (3G/GPRS) are key to Vodafone's strategy for delivering real 3G services to customers at launch. Vodafone is working together with a number of different terminal manufacturers such as Casio, Ericsson, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic and Siemens to achieve this aim.

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