Vodafone expanded 3G broadband services to six cities

Bucharest – Vodafone Romania expanded mobile access services to Internet 3G Broadband (HSDPA) to Cluj – Napoca, Brasov, Timisoara, Constanta, Craiova and Iasi, after having them available in Bucharest, early November last year.

“This launching is the outcome of a significant investment and it is part of an ongoing development plan of our HSDPA network, in parallel to enriching the portfolio of 3G broadband products and services,” according to those declared in a press release by the managing director of Vodafone Romania, Liliana Solomon.

Called Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G Broadband, the service is based on HSDPA technologies. This technology is regarded as belonging to 3.5 generation and it provides fast access to Internet to the applications of the company that the clients work for, such as email, internal network, written messages or agenda. The service provides for USD 45 fess charged for the device that connect the computer to Internet and a monthly subscription fee of USD 35 for a data traffic of 1 Gb. Until March 31, 2007, all 3G Broadband subscriptions will have the same prices as those charged for 3G services.

According to the company representatives, Vodafone 3G broadband enables use speeds up to 1.4 Mbps, and the subsequent developments will enable speeds up to 3.6 Mbps, during this year.

3G services are available to the clients of the Romanian operator who use roaming in 21 countries.

The number of 3G clients of the operator advanced up to 298,000, at the end of December 2006, out of whom one quarter consists of users of 3G broadband service, based on HSDPA technology. The total number of Vodafone Romania clients went up over the first quarter of last year by 562,000, to 7.71 millions.

Vodafone’s main competitor in the Romanian market is Orange Romania, which reported eight million clients at the end of 2006.

Worldwide, Vodafone has over 200 million clients.

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