If you don’t already know – Vodafone Australia and Huchinson (3) have merged (in Australia). They now have joint venture in a company called VHA.
In theory this merger was actually NOT going to affect the network infrastructure but after about 2 months they (kind of) announced some network expansion.
Before the merger:
Three – Three customers had access to a network called ‘3TELSTRA’ masked as ‘3′ for 3 customers. That is a 3G (UTMS/HSPA) network. If they were outside the ‘Broadband Zone’ (3s name) you roamed onto ‘Telstra Mobile’ which is masked as ‘Roaming’ (No Data Roaming [DR] flag). This means there were 2 networks available to 3 customers. ‘3′ and ‘Roaming’
Vodafone – Vodafone customers had access to the network called ‘vodafone AU’ (sometimes) masked as ‘Vodafone’. vodafone AU consists of 2 different types of network, a GSM network (GPRS data carrier) and the 3G (HSPA data carrier) these switched depending on availability. (Note that regionally Vodafone has 2.5G [EDGE data carrier] but not in the city)
After the merger:
Three – Three customers remain primarily attached to ‘3TELSTRA’ (3G) as their primary preferred network and then roam onto “vodafone AU” masked as ‘3′ (2G) followed by ‘Telstra NextG’ (800Mhz) then ‘Telstra Mobile’ both masked as ‘Roaming’ (No Data Roaming [DR] flag.)
Vodafone – No notable changes though I have read some Vodafone customers saying that they now get 3G coverage where there was none previously (could be just pot luck I suppose) [on Whirlpool].
What I find interesting:
Officially Three customers can only connect to “3TELSTRA”, “vodafone AU” & “Telstra Mobile” each masked respectively. But where I live (Ascot Park) I now get 5 bars 3G reception from ‘vodafone AU’ (which cant happen?) and the mobile internet works: Better than it ever has [PROOF]. Previously I would get between 1 – 2 bars of reception and between 1 – 17 kB/s (actual download). With my phones supposed access to ‘vodafone AU’ (masked as ‘3′) I get from about 150 – 340 kB/s.
The interesting thing being officially Three customers can’t connect to Vodafone 3G (yet) just there 2G networks. Anyway – I’m happy – Faster internet – more coverage – 2G in-cap data.
Note: I am NOT the person to ask about this stuff. My phone knowledge does not really extend past network frequencies, windows mobile, android, masked network names & general telecommunications (obviously more focus on the internet and land-line side).
