Vodafone 4G network upgrade across Kerry now complete

Vodafone 4G network upgrade across Kerry now complete - 94% population coverage from Vodafone 4G across the county

Dublin, 6th March 2015 Vodafone has today confirmed that the roll out of its 4G network to towns in the South West is now complete; with Kerry now enjoying superfast 4G speeds reaching 94% of the population across the county.

Throughout Ireland, customers in 4G areas like Kerry can experience ten times faster speeds* on their phones to watch videos with no buffering, instant photo uploads and seamless music streaming. Business customers can experience even more benefits downloading large emails and sending files quicker than ever before. Vodafone 4G is available on the majority of new and existing plans across the Red bill pay and Data Extra pre pay packages.

Vodafone CEO Anne O'Leary said: 'Previously where you lived determined your access to high quality networks but we're changing this. With 90% population coverage across the country Vodafone 4G is now available in over 500 towns and villages nationwide. We want to provide a service that anyone can use, creating massive potential to access the ever-growing number of digital services being developed for education, entertainment and business. In a three year period 4G will achieve the same level of coverage that it took 3G twelve years to achieve, giving our customers the widest coverage of any network and connecting them like never before.'

Vodafone South West Area Manager, Debbie Power, added, 'At Vodafone, we're delighted that the upgrade across the South West is now complete. We've seen our customers' appetite for data grow dramatically in recent years. Our customers across Kerry are sharing more pictures on Instagram, listening to music on Spotify and enjoying videos on popular apps like Netflix and YouTube more than ever before.'

Commenting, Kerry County Council, representative, Padraig Daughton, said 'For us, coverage in areas outside of the main towns is one of the most obvious challenges, since moving to Vodafone, 4G has made a significant contribution on our ability to effectively serve the people and businesses that operate in those regions. Not only has mobile connectivity improved but so too has the sharing of real time information too. 4G has made a huge difference to our teams on the ground providing high speed data coverage where it previously wasn’t available.'

Along with faster data speeds, the new technology in the Vodafone network provides a much better call quality and level of reliability. To enjoy the benefits of the 4G network customers will need a 4G enabled handset. A range of great value 4G handsets to suit all customer needs are available from free on bill pay plans, and from €59.99 on pre pay in the South West.

In tandem with its 4G roll-out, Vodafone is modernising its existing network, providing customers with the best possible voice call quality and data services to all areas with existing voice services. Over 97% of the population can now avail of crystal clear conversation through High Definition Voice coverage, a service which is only available on Vodafone.

The company's expansion of its 4G service along with the improvements to its existing 3G network will conclude on schedule this autumn. 4G is available free of charge to Vodafone customers on the new pre pay Data Extra plan with 5GB of data and across the majority of worry free Red and Red Extra packages.

For further information on network upgrade and location coverage maps please see www.vodafone.ie/network/4g.

* 4G is ten times faster than standard 3G, speeds of up to 75Mbps.

-ENDS-

For more information please contact: Clodagh O'Hagan, Vodafone, 087 908 4055

Norman Pratt / Orla Molloy Weber Shandwick, 01 679 8600 / 086 151 8921 / 087 770 5108

Vodafone Ireland

Vodafone is Ireland's leading total communications provider with 2.3 million customers. At 30th September 2014, the company had 2.1 million mobile customers and 267,000 customers of its fixed portfolio.Vodafone provides a total range of communications solutions including voice, messaging, data and fixed communications to consumers and to small, medium and large businesses. Since 2011, Vodafone has expanded its enterprise division, offering integrated next-generation fixed and mobile solutions in addition to cloud-based platforms, machine to machine services and professional ICT support.Vodafone Group is one of the world's leading international mobile communications groups with mobile operations in 26 countries, partners with mobile networks in 52 more, and fixed broadband operations in 17 markets. For more information, please visit www.vodafone.ie