In September 2024, we reported that the Competition and Consumer Commission of Australia (ACCC) decided not to oppose an agreement between Optus and TPG Telecom, the owner of Vodafone, which aimed to revolutionize mobile services in Regional Australia. The most significant result of this association was that it allowed TPG (and by Vodafone extension) to use the Optus regional infrastructure network to expand its 4G and 5G coverage. Less than five months later, he has achieved exactly that.
Before this association, the Vodafone network only covered 400,000 square kilometers, which meant that it reached 95.4% of the population. As of January 30, the Vodafone network now has coverage that reaches 98.4% of the population and has expanded to 1,000,000 square kilometers in Australia.
In addition to giving Vodafone current customers the ability to travel without worrying about their mobile connectivity, the greatest benefit of this increase in national coverage is that it makes Vodafone a much more realistic option for regional Australians, many of whom Previously they only had more expensive options. of Telstra or Optus to choose from.
How does the Optus-TPG network exchange agreement work?
For years, Telstra has offered the broader coverage in Australia and in 2022 there was actually a similar proposal for a network exchange agreement between Telstra and TPG, although the ACCC denied it a second time when the Court of Australian competition appealed.
The court declared that the agreement would provide Telstra “competitive benefits and further increase Telstra’s position of the market strength in mobile telecommunications markets.” A reason why this Optus-TPG agreement was allowed is because, as stated by the CEO of TPG, Inaki Berroeta, creates “a new era of choice and competition for customers throughout the regional Australia.”
The core of this agreement is the establishment of what is known as a central network of multiple operators (MOCN) in Regional Australia, which only means that the two suppliers share parts of their network. And, although Vodafone/TPG and its many mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) should see significant benefits in terms of where their subscribers can obtain a signal, Optus has not been associated with TPG just to be pleasant.
At the end of last year, Optus was crowned as the fastest mobile network and, through this agreement, obtained licenses to the TPG spectrum within the MOCN, which allowed him to increase the capacity, quality and speed of his network for the Regional clients When this agreement was reached, the CEO of Optus, Michael Vinter, also declared that it should see “the deployment of the 5G infrastructure that will be completed about two years earlier than previously planned.”
So what are the current changes?
For now, the only definitive note change is that the coverage of the Vodafone network has expanded, and it is important Iinet
Vodafone has a complete page dedicated to its coverage expansion, which allows you to explore your local network by state to see how it has changed. For example, in terms of footprint, the coverage in Nueva Wales del Sur and the act has doubled, while Australia del Sur has tripled and Vodafone’s coverage in Queensland has quadrupled.
There are currently no Vodafone plans to increase the price of their plans so that they coincide with their improved network and customers do not need to do anything to get access to expanded coverage. If you are interested, you can explore Vodafone’s mobile plans to see what is best for you.
