Vodafone New Zealand Expects to Complete 3G Upgrade Early

Vodafone New Zealand says that it plans to complete its rollout of 3G coverage to 97% of the places New Zealanders live work and play by the end of this May, a year ahead of schedule.

"Over half a million customers are enjoying the benefits of our NZ 3G network today. We've invested nearly $3 billion in New Zealand, continually improving and extending our network through a progression of technology evolutions. This allows us to refine and optimise the technology we've chosen, rather than starting from scratch and building a new network each time."

Vodafone has engaged Nokia Siemens Networks to extend its network - and is utilizing its 900Mhz spectrum for the upgrade, which should enable it to cover rural areas with fewer base stations.

According to figures from the Mobile World subscriber tracker, Vodafone ended Q3 '08 with around 2.43 million customers, and a market share of 54% - just ahead of Telecom New Zealand.

In a seperate development, the company also confirmed that it is in talks with Salmat SalesForce, which could lead to it outsourcing its customer care service to the company. If the decision is made to outsource these services, the majority of Vodafone staff would become employees of Salmat SalesForce.

Vodafone's Acting Director of Customer Care, Antony Welton, says that the company is sensitive to the current economic climate and is working to ensure as many people as possible are transferred.

"While we believe Vodafone and its customers can benefit hugely from working with a world-class partner, we want to do right by our people as well. We have selected a potential partner with a New Zealand operation and if we do go down this route, we will make sure the majority of our people have jobs with this partner," he says.

Posted to the site on 23rd February 2009