While much of the country still has yet to be wired up and switched on, if you are in line, Vodafone is sweetening the deal with 4G access in the meantime.
If you’re presently waiting for the National Broadband Network to go online, you may be going without internet access. Depending on how long it takes for your ISP to make the connection, you may not have access, and that’s bound to be a sore point for customers.
However, Vodafone this week has offered a reason to sign up with its own NBN plans, with a way to access the web while you wait for the connection to be made.
Even though Voda’s NBN plans haven’t been made available yet, the telco plans to offer customers waiting for installation and repairs by NBN technicians a way of getting online.
Using its Wi-Fi Hub modem, Vodafone will offer a cellular connection alongside the wired line for the National Broadband Network, affording two connections, though only one will be activated at any one time.
Vodafone will cap the speed at 12Mbps down and 1Mbps up, making the 4G connection much like how Optus’ Home Wireless Broadband.
The difference, however, is that Vodafone’s Wi-Fi Hub will connect to the wired NBN when the installation or repairs have been made, providing an interim connection through the same wired device.
“Over the last year, we have spoken to many Australians about their internet experience to understand their concerns and needs. They have told us that they don’t care about the kind of technology their internet runs on, they just want it to work,” said Matthew Lobb, General Manager of Fixed Broadband for Vodafone.
“At launch we are proud to offer all Vodafone NBN customers access to the best of both worlds – our amazing mobile and broadband networks,” he said. “We have listened to people’s concerns about missing out on internet access or paying out of their own pockets for mobile data while they wait for their service to be installed or repaired.”
Vodafone’s solution will reportedly be a long term thing, but it will only apply to subscribers who can actually sign up to the NBN. That means the offer won’t be valid until you can actually apply for the NBN in your area, putting it out of reach if, say, the broadband network isn’t set to be rolled out in your area for another few months or a year.
However, it is an interesting inclusion, and bodes well as an addition since if the NBN goes down, you could still potentially have a way of getting online, even if it may not be at the same speed.
Vodafone’s NBN access is due to go live later this year, with more information on the plans arriving in the coming months.
