Vodafone offers '5G Ultra' to users of very specific phones in very specific locations
- Reference: 1687784650
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/06/26/vodafone_goes_ultra_with_5g/
- Source link:
The telco, which plans to [1]merge with CK Hutchinson's Three in the UK, said that its 5G Standalone service will be available initially in several locations across the country, chiefly large cities, but only on Samsung Galaxy S21 and S22 smartphones for now.
Dubbed [2]5G Ultra , the service is claimed by Vodafone to offer greater 5G coverage, improved phone battery life, more reliable connections in busy locations, and will cure world hunger (we made that last one up).
[3]
These benefits are supposedly a result of the network being upgraded to 5G Standalone in the locations listed, which means that the network core infrastructure has been refreshed with modern technology rather than simply bolting a 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) – the transmitter/receiver equipment – onto the existing infrastructure built for 4G networks, as the UK's 5G support has been to date.
[4]
[5]
Vodafone stated that the service is available at launch in "several locations" across the UK, including London, Manchester, Glasgow, and Cardiff, as well as the Wimbledon area to provide coverage for the tennis.
The company said that customers with a compatible handset who signed a monthly contract after February 24 will have 5G Ultra added to their plan automatically at no extra cost, as will new customers and those upgrading. The 5G Ultra service will also be available for small business users.
[6]
It isn't clear why Vodafone is only supporting Samsung Galaxy S21 and S22 phones at launch. The company claimed more devices will be added in July, and we asked it for a list of devices it will support.
The company claims that users will see have average speeds of 150-200Mbps and perhaps up to 1Gbps with 5G Ultra, saying it is approximately 10 times faster than 4G. It is also claiming that 5G Ultra will handle peaks in demand better so that users can be assured of getting a service in busy locations such as stadiums and at festivals.
However, telecoms analyst Paolo Pescatore at PP Foresight told us that many users will likely not notice much difference for now.
[7]
"While the lure of faster speeds and lower latency sounds appealing it will likely be unnoticeable for many consumers," he said, although he added that this announcement is "a key and pivotal role in the next wave of 5G."
Features such as lower latency will also likely have more appeal for business users, Pescatore said.
[8]It's official: Vodafone and Three to tie the knot in the UK
[9]Huawei could be banned from 5G networks across the EU
[10]Malaysia goes its own Huawei, won't ban Chinese vendor from 5G network
[11]Energy efficiency starts to rock telcos' 5G infrastructure choices
"Ultimately a reliable and robust connection is still highly sought after among users. It will add up to new use cases for businesses that will see plentiful benefits thanks to network slicing and much more."
Vodafone announced its [12]first trials of 5G standalone networks back in 2021, stating that these were taking place in London, Manchester, and Cardiff.
The Register also reported previously that Vodafone was using the network upgrade as an opportunity to [13]rip and replace Huawei kit from its network, in line with the UK government's instructions not to procure equipment from the vendor, and to remove any already installed by the end of 2027.
Vodafone was understood to be in a relatively good position as far as this went as it had not used Huawei gear in its core network in the UK, although [14]one third of the RAN was understood to be built using Huawei technology.
The company also announced this month that it proposes to [15]merge its British business with rival mobile network Three . The move is expected to create a third big telecoms player in the UK market to compete against BT and Virgin Media O2, but may face a challenge from the country's competition watchdog over concerns that deal might lead to higher prices. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/14/its_official_vodafone_and_three/
[2] https://www.vodafone.co.uk/network/5g
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZJm2HLyhZEuzwn2HzptJ-gAAAEA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZJm2HLyhZEuzwn2HzptJ-gAAAEA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZJm2HLyhZEuzwn2HzptJ-gAAAEA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZJm2HLyhZEuzwn2HzptJ-gAAAEA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZJm2HLyhZEuzwn2HzptJ-gAAAEA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/14/its_official_vodafone_and_three/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/07/huawei_may_face_euwide_5g/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/02/malaysia_5g_rollout_huawei/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/13/energy_efficiency_5g_infrastructure/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/24/vodafone_5g_sa_trial/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/14/vodafone_openran_deployment/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2019/06/20/vodafone_eager_for_gov_to_conclude_review_into_huawei/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/14/its_official_vodafone_and_three/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Plenty of people use their phones as a mobile hotspot.
I was doing it... what? 15 years ago? In remote Scottish backwaters where I was the only one with signal and I had a table of friends/family that piggybacked off my connection.
I don't ever use trains, but I can quite imagine there are a LOT of people who dig out a laptop on a train and basically connect as if they are in the office, not to mention those people who work from home or while out in pubs or the field nowadays.
Never, in the course of human endeavour, has someone NOT found a use for even more data and processing even faster.
I remember watching a tomorrows world episode where they were talking about 3G and mentioned speeds of up to 2Mbps, but "of course, on a stationary device, not a moving train" and that seemed fantastic. At the time I was on 0.05Mbps dialup connection and my office was on a "superfast 256Kbps" connection
Yes, hot spotting can be a big thing. I didn't have a land line in my place in Bristol in 2018. 4g was consistently above 50 Mbps, adsl would have been slower probably less than 10. Sometimes you have to download big files so faster is better.
The big one for me was when there is network congestion. You need the big numbers initially so it's still workable when you only get a small percentage.
...what is the advantage...
Well, let me take a guess. The advantage: Faster porn, bigger porn, huge porn, more porn, HD porn, HD+ porn, HD++ porn, streaming porn, multiple streams porn, back streams porn, front streams porn.
Looks like an advantage. What do you think?
You missed the 3D porn and VR porn
AI porn too, or is that far too wierd?
Is the phone restriction possibly due to them offering mmWave in those locations I wonder?
Easy PR?
Personally, I'd like them to get their 4G coverage improved. Around us, my phone is often dropping back to 3G - which doesn't bode well for when they switch 3G off. There are even some parts of our High Street where it can drop to E. It's not heavily built up (a rural area - a village that's morphing into a small dormitory town) so it shouldn't be rocket science.
Re: Easy PR?
Blame nimbys and wellness freaks who object to every mast application with scare stories and far fetched whining
Call me Mr Thickie Luddite but what is the advantage of 200Mbps over 50Mbps on a phone?