Vodafone will be the first to provide the fourth generation LTE mobile Internet service. It is very difficult for Movistar to anticipate, since it will be in a couple of days (May 29) when the operator of British origin will open the hiring of its new high-speed data services. Seven will be the cities that participate in the launch of LTE in Spain: Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca.
At the moment, there is no date for when the deployment would continue in other cities of the national territory, something that should be subject to the network that Vodafone will use for this first phase of fourth-generation coverage. Like Orange, the red company will use the 1,800 and 2,600 MHz bands, pending the regulation of the 800 MHz frequency, which is exposed as a priority for LTE traffic, but not until next year. It will be released from its current use, dedicated to DTT.
Vodafone's LTE service will be available to all customers who want to subscribe to this new type of connection in any of the cities that will have coverage for it. It will be a free offer until September 30, and we distinguish this point because, unlike what Yoigo or Orange announced, Vodafone will charge the 4G service in certain cases. Or rather, it will not do so in four scenarios. Those who have a Vodafone RED3, Vodafone RED3 Pro, Vodafone RED4 Pro or 10 GB Mobile Internet rate will not add new charges to their bill. The rest of customers who contract access to LTE networks must pay 10.89 euros.
Those who are interested should consider several details. To begin with, of course, they have to contact a compatible terminal for access to LTE networks in the targeted bands. The most practical high - end devices that today populate the market contemplate this provision, including the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One, iPhone 5, Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820, Huawei Ascend P2 or Sony Xperia Z. Many tablets, such as the Sony Xperia Tablet Z or the latest Apple iPad models, also have support for this type of 4G. If we are users of any of these devices, we can go to one of the flagship stores in the cities mentioned from theMay 29 to request the activation of the service, which in some cases may require a new SIM card. On June 4, the hiring would be available in the rest of the stores, as well as on the operator's website.
As indicated by Vodafone, they will be in a position to provide an LTE service that will be compatible with the so-called category 4, that is, it would support theoretical download rates of up to 150 Mbps, as well as data uploads of up to 50 Mbps. To do this, of course, you would have to be at a point where coverage was optimal and have a device that recognizes this standard. The first stage of the premiere of Vodafone's LTE network will provide 55 percent outdoor coverage in the cities that will participate in the opening of the service, 25 percent indoors. In septembera second stage would take place, which hopes to be able to satisfy 85 percent outdoor coverage and 60 percent indoors.
