Vodafone has announced that it will kill off the ’3′ brand that it inherited after merging its Australian operations with Hutchison (3′s parent company) two years ago.
“It’s now been two years since we brought 3 and Vodafone together. We wanted to give all our 3 customers the latest update on what’s been happening and some exciting changes for the future,” the company said on its website.
Vodafone could be facing a huge problem as the class action lawsuit bid over its poor network reception has now grown to 23,000 claimants with more litigants coming forward since the start of the campaign earlier in December last year.
The last update on numbers we had were 9,000 in January.
Well, just minutes after the HTC announcement of its new HTC Desire HD and HTC Desire Z, Vodafone Hutchison Australia – owners of Vodafone and 3 – have announced that they have the exclusive rights to sell the HTC Desire HD in Australia. Pricing and availability have not been confirmed.
When we got the phone in our grubby hands, it was a Telstra exclusive. Days later, it was a phone on all carriers. This is the LG Optimus, one of two running on Android, and the only one here in Australia. However, with rival carriers Optus and Vodafone/3 carrying the phone on a cheaper plan than Telstra’s, is this phone a budget phone or a full-fledged phone? As well, how does it live up with the other Android phones?
Our verdict on the LG Optimus is after the jump.
Wanting to get the iPhone 4? Well, tough luck. Popular demand for the phone has left Optus and Telstra with no stock of the popular phone, with Vodafone reporting that it has limited stock left.
Vodafone’s update, however, was five hours ago (according to time of writing), and most likely to have sold out. It also appears that Three has also sold out, or orders aren’t starting until they have enough phones to cover both Vodafone and Three.
Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) has announced its plans for the iPad, days within the iPad’s release in Australia, including offering an unlimited option for Vodafone customers.
Vodafone will customers a prepaid option, and will offer 250MB for $9.95, while 1GB and 4GB plans will cost you $14.95 and $29.95 respectively. There will also be an unlimited option for $49.95. All recharge options will expire within 30 days. There are also two other plans – $100 for 6GB and $150 for 12GB of data – that expire 180 days and 365 days respectively.
Nokia has announced that it will be launching the successor to the E71, the Nokia E72, to Australia. The phone still has the body of the E71, but includes a 2.4-inch QVGA display, a 5 megapixel camera (up from a 3.2 megapixel camera), an optical navigational key, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and supports microSD cards.The phone has also been upgraded to support faster 3G connections, and includes the new version of QuickOffice.
Just the day before the iPhone is set to launch on 3’s mobile network, thanks to its merger with Vodafone’s Australian operations, it has announced a change in its plans that will see the iPhone 3G 8GB model be sold with no additional payments.
Nearly one month after the iPhone 3GS was launched on Optus, Vodafone and Telstra; 3 has announced that the pricing of the iPhone on their network, three days before it is set to go out on sale on July 17; and in line with its youth-focus brand, those will have to pay less to get a free iPhone 3GS 16GB than Optus (See Correction).
3 Mobile, thanks to their merger with Vodafone Australia to create Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA), has previously said that the iPhone 3GS is coming to their network in July, and now, we know the exact date on when that is happening.
As I said before, after 3 and Vodafone merge operations, some of the phones that they had an exclusive deal to bring to Australia will appear on the other network, and now Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA – the new company from the merger between 3 and Vodafone) has announced that Three will be getting the iPhone 3GS.
The consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, has announced that it will not oppose the proposed merger between Vodafone’s Australian operations and Hutchison Telecom Australia to create a 50/50 joint venture company.
The new company, Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA), is now cleared to finalise their merger after being cleared to merge by the Foreign Investment Board and the European Commission.
So, when we said that we don’t know when Australia will be getting the phone, well now we know. Both Vodafone Australia and Three have made announcements, on their respective websites, that the new HTC Magic smartphone that has the Android OS on it will be coming to their network.
Introduced in this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, the Sony Ericsson C510 has that sleek and sexy design, on the outside and in the interface as well. With YouTube compatibility and is one of its “Cyber-shot” phones, TECHGEEK.com.au has now got it for review and will now put it to the test to see does it live up to its hype as one of the must-have phones for a media-savvy person?
Telstra has announced that 131 exchanges in Victoria, including 127 located in regional areas, will be upgraded (or have been upgraded) to Telstra’s ADSL2 network within the next 200 days, allowing a further 84,000 homes and businesses to access faster speeds.
“As well as the speed benefits, families will be able to simultaneously use several devices at home at the one time more easily. Content can be delivered with greater reliability, which is important when some members of the family may be downloading work files, others downloading music or videos, while the kids are online researching for school projects,” Grant Wiltshire, Executive Director for Telstra Country Wide for Victoria, said in a press release.