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Hutchison customers' status still in doubtDan Oakes
May 1, 2009
VODAFONE has extended its 3G network to regional centres throughout Australia, but it is unclear whether existing Hutchison customers will have access to the service if the two companies merge.

As of today, customers in towns and cities such as Ballarat, Townsville, Albury-Wodonga, Hobart and Bunbury will be under the umbrella of the network, now covering 80 per cent of the population.

An upgrade on August 31 will extend the coverage to 94 per cent.

The availability of 3G means customers can access mobile broadband on computer and internet, as well as email and multimedia content such as mobile TV and video on their mobile phones.

Hutchison and Vodafone are waiting with bated breath as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission studies a proposal to give the merged companies a 27 per cent share of the mobile phone market, putting it in striking distance of the number two player, Optus.

However, a complex web of partnerships between the two companies and Telstra and Optus means it is uncertain whether the Hutchison customers could use Vodafone's expanded 3G network even if the companies merge.

"We're just unable to speculate, because two competitors coming together could be construed as collusion," Paul Guerra, Vodafone general manager in Victoria and Tasmania, told BusinessDay.

http://vodafone.com.au