Vodafone launches faster 4G and expands LTE roaming to 23 countries
Are you a Vodafone 4G customer? Good news, your downloads could soon get that much quicker. As part of a billion pound investment into its network, the carrier has begun rolling out the UK's first widely accessible LTE Advanced network. LTE-A, as it's known, will go live in Birmingham, Manchester or London in the coming weeks, promising to boost signal and improve 4G speeds thanks to increased network capacity. LTE-A is actually capable of blistering maximum download speeds of 300Mbps, but that requires a Cat 6 LTE smartphone, which aren't sold in the UK currently (though you can import a compatible device from somewhere like Korea if you're so inclined). Faster 4G will come to more cities by the end of the year, allowing Vodafone to increase its lead over EE, which is currently conducting closed testing of its own LTE-A service.
That isn't all Vodafone has to share, though. Looking beyond the UK, the operator has added a further 19 countries to its 4G roaming roster (taking it up to 23), including the USA, Hong Kong and Brazil (see the full list below). If you visit a country that falls within the "Europe Zone," you can use your UK minutes, texts and 4G data for £3 a day. If you're travelling a further afield, you will enjoy the same perks in WorldTraveller Zones, but you'll be charged £5 a day. Vodafone's also imposed a new monthly data spending limit of £41.29 to ensure you don't return from your holiday to a multi-page breakdown of your Instagram selfie data usage.
Full list of countries covered by Vodafone's 4G network: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan and USA.
