Vodafone (Australia)

Vodafone Hutchison Australia
Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Limited
Joint venture
Industry Telecommunications
Founded 2009
Headquarters 177 Pacific Hwy, North Sydney, NSW, 2060
Key people
 Iñaki Berroeta (CEO), Canning Fok (Chairman) [1]
Products Prepaid and postpaid mobile phones, fixed-line and wireless broadband
Revenue
  • Increase A$3.481 billion (2017) [2]
  • Increase A$978.1 million (2017)[3]
Owner CK Hutchison Holdings (50%)
Vodafone (50%)
Number of employees
 2,500 (2018) [4]
Website www.vodafone.com.au

Vodafone Australia or Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) is a mobile telecommunications company and Internet service provider that operates the Vodafone brand in Australia. The result of a 2009 merger between Vodafone Australia and Hutchison 3G Australia, it is Australia's third-largest mobile carrier with approximately 5.8 million subscribers, A$3.5 billion in annual revenue and a 19 per cent market share making it Australia's third largest mobile telecommunications provider behind Telstra and Optus.[5] It also offers fixed-line and wire broadband services via the National Broadband Network.

The joint venture entity is owned by Hutchison Telecommunications Australia (a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings) and by Vodafone Group plc on a 50-50 basis.[6]

In August 2018, VHA and TPG Telecom announced their intention to merge. Vodafone shareholders will hold 50.1% of the new company which is to be known as TPG Telecom Limited.[7][8]

Products and services

Mobile telephony

Mobile voice and data is Vodafone's core business. Its mobile network operates on the following frequencies:[9]

Vodafone's 3G UMTS uses 900 MHz for 3G services outside of capital cities, to equal or surpass their older GSM coverage,[10] and has also expanded this network to a limited extent into metro areas.[11]

Vodafone's 4G 1800 MHz rollout commenced with 20 MHz of bandwidth in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle and Wollongong on 12 June 2013.[12]

Vodafone has also rolled out 4G 850 MHz by refarming 5 MHz of their 3G spectrum in capital cities covering 95% of Australia's metro population in 2014, and has enabled carrier aggregation on both their 4G bands.[13] In April 2017, Vodafone was a successful bidder for 4G spectrum on the 700MHz band at auction, but appears not to have commenced services on this band as of August 2018.[14][9]

Network history

The Vodafone 2G and 3G (2100/900 MHz) networks originally operated as a single network, separate to the Three network. During the merger, VHA had made no comment on their intention to combine the 3 and Vodafone networks, or offer roaming between them. As of late 2009 however, roaming onto the Vodafone's 2G network had been enabled for Three customers in areas that had limited 3G coverage (e.g. blackspots).

In late 2010, VHA announced plans to consolidate the Three and Vodafone networks, in an attempt to better compete with Telstra's Next G network. The plan included the expansion of UMTS 900/2100 MHz coverage in 900 metropolitan sites and 500 outer metropolitan sites across Australia, an end to the 3GIS network (3's UMTS 2100 MHz network, which it has a 50% stake with, the other 50% being held by Telstra), as well as the roll out of 1400 UMTS-850 base stations - 850 MHz being the same band in which the Next G network operates. At least $550 million was spent on this project.[15]

Three operated a 2100 MHz 3G network in a 50/50 partnership with Telstra[16], which covered approximately 56% of Australia's population across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, the Gold Coast, Canberra, Geelong, Frankston and Wollongong. In areas not covered by the joint 3G network, customers were able to roam on Telstra's Next G 850 MHz 3G network, and Telstra's 900 MHz and 1800 MHz 2G networks. This agreement allowed Three to offer coverage to up to 96% of the population. This network, and with it the final links to the Three network from an infrastructure perspective, was shut down on 31 August 2012 following the termination of the network sharing agreement.[17][18]

Vodafone began to shut down its 2G network on 30 April 2018, and completed the switch-off on 30 June.[19][20]

Internet services

Vodafone offers broadband plans and bundles via the National Broadband Network, marketed as Vodafone nbn. These services were launched in December 2017 as the first fixed-line product offered by Vodafone in Australia.[21]

Ownership structure and history

Three-Vodafone merger (June 2009)

VHA was created on 10 June 2009, after shareholders and the ACCC approved a merger between Hutchison Telecommunications Australia (owner of the Three network) and Vodafone Australia. At the time of the merger, Former VHA chief executive Nigel Dews said "the first priority is around people and getting the organisation and the organisational structure sorted out", and that head office functions would see the greatest redundancies. During the merger, Vodafone Hutchison Australia announced it would buy out its Vodafone branded stores, previously run by the retail management groups Digicall, First Mobile, Inside Mobile and GSM. The new retail structure will lift VHA's current headcount by 1,400 to 5,100 staff, and add over 170 stores. Three-branded stores were already owned by VHA.

Before the merger with Three:

  • Vodafone Group plc owned Vodafone Australia Limited (which runs the Vodafone network)
  • Hutchison Whampoa Limited owned 52% of Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) Limited ("HTAL"), which owned Hutchison 3G Australia Pty Limited ("H3GA") (which runs the "3" network)

In the merger, Hutchison 3G Australia was renamed Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Ltd, and 50% was sold to Vodafone Group.

The ownership structure of the current entity, Vodafone Hutchison Australia, is:

  • Vodafone Group owns 50% of Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Ltd
  • Hutchison Telecommunications Australia owns 50% of Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Ltd
  • Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Ltd owns 100% of Vodafone Australia Limited[22]

The merger created an entity of nearly 7 million subscribers, A$4 billion in annual revenue and a 27 per cent market share making it Australia's third largest mobile telecommunications provider behind Telstra and Optus. The discrepancy between these numbers and the present figures can be attributed at least partially to a series of major failures of the VHA mobile network that occurred between 2009 and 2012, dubbed 'Vodafail' (a term used widely in the media and by users on social media networks to describe the outages.)[23][24][25] More than two million customers left VHA over the period from 2010 to 2013.[26]

VHA began phasing out the Three brand in mid-2011.[27] At the time registration of new subscribers to Three ended and would instead become Vodafone customers.[27] The Three network was shut down completely on 30 August 2013.[28]

VHA-TPG merger (August 2018)

On 30 August 2018 VHA announced its intention to merge with TPG Telecom, the second-largest internet service provider in Australia.[7]

Pending regulatory approval for the merger, the ownership structure of the new company will be:

  • Vodafone Group and Hutchison Telecommunications Australia will own a combined 50.1% of TPG Telecom Limited[7]

At present it is not fully clear if the Vodafone brand will be retained post-merger, though it is claimed that "no changes are planned" to the existing brand structure of either company.[8]

Marketing and sponsorship

Vodafone have been involved in a variety of sports sponsorships in Australia. From 1998 to 2004 Vodafone were the shirt sponsors for the Australian national rugby union team, the Wallabies. In 2010, Vodafone replaced Three as the shirt sponsor of the Australian national cricket team.

Vodafone was the naming rights sponsor of Triple Eight Race Engineering in V8 Supercars from 2007 to 2012.[29] During that period, TeamVodafone won four championships and four Bathurst 1000 races. In 2012, Vodafone terminated their cricket and motorsport sponsorships with money reinvested into improving their mobile network and customer service.[30]

In 2017, Vodafone made a return to sports sponsorships in Australia. In rugby union, Vodafone became the title sponsor of Super Rugby within Australia. In motorsport, Vodafone sponsored a BMW M6 GT3 in the 2017 Bathurst 12 Hour, and within Supercars became title sponsor of the safety car and the Gold Coast 600.[31]

References

  1. ↑ url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/board.asp?privcapId=11355381
  2. ↑ https://www.vodafone.com.au/media/vha-announces-more-than-1-3-billion-network-and-technology-spend-in-2018
  3. ↑ https://www.vodafone.com.au/media/vha-announces-more-than-1-3-billion-network-and-technology-spend-in-2018
  4. ↑ https://www.vodafone.com.au/about/company
  5. ↑ "Competition watchdog to look into TPG's newly announced $15b merger with Vodafone". ABC News. 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  6. ↑ Hutchison Telecommunications Australia release to Australian Securities Exchange, 10 June 2009
  7. 1 2 3 Duke, Jennifer. "Vodafone, TPG to become $15b telco giant to disrupt Optus and Telstra". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  8. 1 2 Reichert, Corinne. "TPG and Vodafone Australia to merge into AU$15b telco named TPG | ZDNet". ZDNet. Retrieved 2018-09-02.
  9. 1 2 "Australian Phone Networks and Frequencies Explained". Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  10. ↑ "Network Coverage". Vodafone Hutchison Australia.
  11. ↑ http://community.vodafone.com.au/t5/Vodafone-Blog/bg-p/Vodafone-Blog/label-name/network
  12. ↑ http://community.vodafone.com.au/t5/Vodafone-Blog/Media-Release-Vodafone-Switches-on-4G/ba-p/280801
  13. ↑ http://community.vodafone.com.au/t5/Vodafone-Blog/We-re-boosting-our-4G-network-so-you-can-use-it-in-more-places/ba-p/353447
  14. ↑ Authority, The Australian Communications and Media (2018-04-20). "Auction summary 700 MHz residual lots April 2017". www.acma.gov.au. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  15. ↑ Colley, Andrew (22 October 2010). "VHA in major 3G upgrade". The Australian. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
  16. ↑ "Telstra, Hutchison share 3G network". ZDNet. 4 August 2004.
  17. ↑ "Telstra - 3G & Next G Information". Telstra. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  18. ↑ "Network changes - Three". Vodafone Hutchison Australia. Retrieved 2012-08-31.
  19. ↑ "We've switched off our 2G network". Vodafone Australia. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  20. ↑ "Vodafone's Staggered 2G Network Shutdown Starts April 30 With Queensland". Gizmodo Australia. 2018-04-08. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  21. ↑ "Vodafone launches NBN plans". iTnews. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  22. ↑ Group Structure
  23. ↑ "How did Vodafone become Vodafail?". NewsComAu. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  24. ↑ "#Vodafail is BACK, with seven hours of 'try again later'". Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  25. ↑ "Vodafail takes in 12,000 complaints". iTnews. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  26. ↑ "How Vodafone came back from Vodafail". NewsComAu. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  27. 1 2 Allen, Danny (2011-08-31). "Vodafone Ends New 3 Mobile Customer Registrations". Gizmodo Australia. Retrieved 2013-08-14.
  28. ↑ "Moving from 3 to Vodafone". Vodafone Australia. Retrieved 2013-08-14.
  29. ↑ Harris, Geoffrey (8 June 2012). "MOTORSPORT: Vodafone hangs up on V8 Supercar sponsorship". Motoring.com.au. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  30. ↑ Lee, Julian (7 June 2012). "Vodafone dumps cricket, motorsport sponsorship". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  31. ↑ Howard, Tom (18 July 2017). "Gold Coast 600 secures new title sponsor". Speedcafe. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
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