Smartphone users in the South are again left waiting for the arrival of 4G, the faster mobile network, after Telecom yesterday followed the lead of Vodafone of targeting Auckland in its initial coverage.
Telecom retail chief executive Chris Quin said the 4G LTE (long-term evolution) would be available on a large part of the Telecom smartphone network in Auckland by October. The company would then extend 4G coverage to Wellington and Christchurch by Christmas and expected to have 4G live on close to half of its nationwide smartphone network by 2014.
Vodafone recently launched a 4G LTE mobile network which was initially available in about 30% of Auckland but would be extended to cover more of Auckland and parts of Christchurch and Wellington later this year.
According to Vodafone, the 4G service was up to 10 times faster than standard 3G services without dual carrier. That meant a book could be downloaded in less than a second, or a music album in less than three seconds, Vodafone said.
The Vodafone 4G service will go live in parts of Christchurch in May, and parts of Wellington in August or September.
Mr Quin said 4G was another way to help New Zealanders get better connected.
''We are very pleased with the current network's performance across both voice and data and the feedback from our customers has been positive.''
The introduction of 4G would add quality and real-world mobile experience for users.
If Telecom was successful in the 700MHz spectrum auction, 4G would also allow Telecom to significantly improve coverage in rural areas, he said. Telecom intended to install 4G and rural broadband initiative sites that it build from early next year.
Telecom had selected Huawei to build its network of 4G-capable mobile sites.
