Generation UMTS

27th January , 2004

Europe UK : Vodafone UK announced it has launched trials of its unique 3G Mobile Connect laptop PC data card. Vodafone is the first operator in the UK to announce such trials and will be conducting them initially with corporate customers adding smaller business customers as the trial progresses.

With 3G capacity currently in London, along the M4 to Newbury and in cities such as Birmingham and Manchester, the first phase of 3G deployment is concentrating on major urban areas. This will equate to 30 per cent population coverage expected for initial commercial introduction in Spring 2004.

Vodafone's 3G Mobile Connect Cards will deliver faster access speeds, improving the efficiency and use of business applications such as corporate email, intranet, shared files, corporate applications and Internet access.

Gavin Darby, CEO of Vodafone UK, commented: "As the first UK operator to trial a 3G data card, I am extremely pleased that we are in the unique position of being able to give our business customers this first opportunity to trial 3G. This is the first step along our 3G path, and paves the way for the development of a range of enhanced offerings for businesses."

The Vodafone 3G Mobile Connect Card is an evolution of the 2.5G / GPRS data card launched in January 2003. The 3G data card is the first product to integrate both 2.5G and 3G technologies, with transmission speeds of up to 384 Kbps when in 3G coverage areas. When out of 3G coverage areas the data card has been designed specifically to seamlessly revert to using the 2.5G network.

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