UK’s VodafoneThree launches TV and guaranteed-speed mobile offer

LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Mobile operator VodafoneThree launched its own TV service in Britain on Thursday, filling a gap in its broadband offer to better compete with rivals Sky, Virgin Media and BT. It also launched a premium mobile offer with guaranteed faster speeds.

• Vodafone TV will include streaming apps Netflix and HBO Max, linear and on-demand content from broadcasters like the BBC and ITV, more than 300 games and thousands of apps, the company said.

• Vodafone’s “SuperMobile” product offers up to four times faster speeds and a guaranteed minimum download speed of 15 Mbps when customers are in 5G+ coverage.

• It utilises a dedicated “FastTrack” in Vodafone’s 5G+ network, which partitions or “slices” a chunk of the network and prioritises users’ data traffic.

• It will be available to pay monthly customers for an extra £3 ($4.05) a month on top of its full-speed Xtra plans.

• It is also launching a tandem “SuperMobile” service for business, which it said was anchored by Britain’s first national business-only mobile network slice.

• Rival EE, owned by BT, launched its own “Fast Lane” product using a dedicated network slice last month.

• Vodafone pledged to invest £11 billion in its British network when it merged with Hutchison’s Three in 2025.

• Vodafone CEO Max Taylor said: “Vodafone SuperMobile is tangible evidence of what the Vodafone and Three merger makes possible: better connectivity and real choice for customers.”

• CCS Insight analyst Kester Mann said: “The option to access a superior connectivity service in places where heavy demand can significantly impact network performance addresses a major customer pain point.”

($1 = 0.7410 pounds)

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Susan Fenton)