Vodafone has announced a successful trial of HSPA+, which is an upgraded version of super 3G which provides speeds greater than those available through HSDPA without attracting the 4G tag, but many suspect there is more to follow.
While the company is said to be very encouraged by the download speeds of 16 Mbps reached in the trial it appears that Vodafone has plans for a 21 Mbps mobile broadband service in “early 2009″. Even though the company has been at the fore of the mobile broadband sector for some time, this proposed move to a new level would see the group leapfrog many of its competitors with the potential to attract significant new customer numbers in the short to medium term.
After a slow start in the UK, the mobile broadband sector has taken on a new lease of life of late and the increase in competition bodes well for consumers and future pricing levels. There is no doubt that mobile broadband is the way forward and while security and reliability issues have been addressed of late, the improvements announced by Vodafone and the potential to move to 21 Mbps could literally redraw the landscape of the UK mobile broadband sector.
However, before Vodafone mobile broadband customers become too excited, it is known that competitors in the UK are also trialling high-speed mobile broadband services in secret. While Vodafone looks set to take a substantial lead over its competitors, how long this will last very much remains to be seen.