Vodafone customers trial 3G in Australia

July 18, 2005

Vodafone Australia started external trials of its 3G mobile network in Sydney on Friday, July 8. It is providing 180 existing customers with Vodafone live! with 3G handsets and giving 40 business users high-speed Vodafone Mobile Connect (VMC) with 3G data cards for laptops.

Over the next three weeks, Vodafone will evaluate the entire 3G customer experience. This week, selected customers will visit their local Vodafone stores to collect the new devices. The trial will examine users' in-store experience and generate qualitative feedback on after sales service and customer support.

Progressive feedback from pilot users will provide Vodafone with insights into the impact of internal staff training and the effectiveness of customer service prior to full-scale 3G launch later this year.

Vodafone has assigned sets of tasks for users to complete during the trial. Mobile handset users will be asked to download specific Vodafone live! content, such as the latest music tracks, sports action and 3D games. Business customers will use the VMC with 3G data cards to test mobile email with attachments, internet access and wireless working using various enterprise applications.

"We want to evaluate the customer experience across all areas of content and delivery so we've deliberately set objectives for users, but beyond that it's up to them to decide how and what they want to explore," said John Casey, Chief Marketing Officer at Vodafone Australia. "We'll use feedback from the trial to give future 3G customers an unbeatable mobile experience."

"At Vodafone, an unbeatable experience means much more than how the technology performs; it's about how successfully we meet and exceed customer expectations on service and support and how effectively our products and content fires imagination, " added Casey.

The external trial follows a three-month internal test programme, which evaluated the functionality of the Vodafone 3G network, handset and data card provisioning and support systems. The internal trial involved more than 100 Vodafone employees in Sydney.

Vodafone Australia's 3G network is benchmarked against Vodafone's global standards, ensuring consistent service quality for both Australian customers and international travellers.

"Our Australian customers will benefit from everything that Vodafone has learned in rolling out new 3G networks in 14 other countries around the world," said Casey.