According to Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao, super fast 4G mobile networks are not currently desired by the masses and are only wanted by “technofreaks.”
Dismissing 4G networks as a service to be adopted only by the most tech obsessed customers, Colao has suggested that Vodafone has not missed out to the likes of EE in failing to target the “very early adopters.”
“I haven’t seen any figures but when I visited an EE store to see how fast it was all I saw was technofreaks in there,” the Vodafone CEO said in a recent interview.
Colao has said he believes the 4G signal will be of very limited interest to the great majority of the British public, with no-one he knows mentioning the service.
“I haven’t heard any calls from friends, colleagues of businesses that we need this fast internet.”
Despite Vodafone’s revenue slipping 5.2 per cent in the past three months, Colao is adamant his customers aren’t going elsewhere just for the 4G signal. He has revealed that he also believes 4G customers won’t see a marked speed increase from those offered by the current 3G networks.
“With the increase in data speeds of HSPA [the faster version of 3G] an early LTE network won’t be much different,” he said.
Currently the only UK network provider offering the superfast 4G signal, EE has recently extended its 4G coverage to over 45 per cent of the UK population. With 27 more towns to be added before June, the 4G signal will then reach over 55 per cent of country.
However, with 4GEE contracts still costing fairly extortionate prices for little data allowances on a narrow spectrum of handsets, it seems like Colao is a little quick off the mark to dismiss the wider demand for a 4G service.
Would you opt for a 4G network provider if the prices were more reasonable? Or do you think Colao is correct in his assumptions that the 4G service is only for “technofreaks”? Let us know on the Trusted Reviews Facebook and Twitter pages or via the comments section below.
Via: Mobile News
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
