31/12/99 Redbank (QLD) tower upgrade complete
29/12/99 VodaFone UK makes a bid for German
Telecom! 
Is there any Teleco Voda UK HASN'T made a bid for of late? heheh :-)
25/12/99 Merry Christmas everyone!!
Merry Christmas to all the people who have visited and helped with my site. This coming year will be even better than the last. Thanks again! :-)
No "Merry Xmas" Cell Broadcast today :-(
24/12/99 Vodafone to cover 100% of population of
Australia with GSM!
I found some very interesting info on a "GSM over CDMA?" brochure at a VodaFone shop today. Here are some quotes from it:-
"Vodafone's GSM network covers 92% of the Australian population (increasing to 100% in 2000)
" The Vodafone GSM network covers 92% of the Australian population and this will increase to a full 100% in the year 2000."
From the looks of it i thought they might be talking about Globalstar. But Globalstar isn't GSM.. It's also clear the the GSM network that currently IS 92% WILL increase to a full 100%.
I hope this happens... maybe it is a printing error??? If not VodaFone is REALLY going to have to get off there butts and put some new sites up... Instead of letting Optus co-locate on all our towers that weren't shared before... There isn't many VodaFone towers now that aren't shared with Optus. It's sad when Voda can build a tower, Put all the cables, antennas etc on the tower. Then Optus comes along and co-locates AND goes online before the original VodaFone tower does!!!!
22/12/99 Telstra billing problems with 0410
(VodaFone) numbers called from a Telstra Land Line
If you called a 0410 number from your Telstra land line, There will be a delay to when they will appear on you phone bill. Telstra admit it's there fault.
19/12/99 New tower online at Auchenflower. Thanks
John!
New VodaFone exchange (I
presume a MSC + BSC) has been opened in Melbourne
18/12/99 VodaFone UK makes a bid for Spain's 2nd
biggest mobile network!!
VodaFone UK users to get SMS based news from BBC (Like our NOW dead infoNOTES service) Well if
VodaFone AU clams to be "International Competitive" when you compare VodaFone AU
to overseas networks, Why don't we have infoNOTES???!!! If VodaFone UK has it then
VodaFone AU SHOULD have it!!!
16/12/99 Official VodaFone NOV 99 Coverage maps
available
I don't have any of these yet... but will let everyone know the big changes.
Helensvale (QLD) and New tower at Gaven (QLD) were offline today
I had to ring Voda and Let them know... about 5 hours latter they were back again.... Good to see the Network as reliable as ever!!! :-)
12/12/99 Lots of news!
WAP should be available now January 2000
14400 bps (14.4 KBPS) Data should be available 3rd Quarter 2000
InfoNOTES will NOT be re-released now
TAP (email-SMS) should be available around July 2000
Smart SMS (8-bit, ringtone send/receive, logos ECT...) is currently in development (no
release date yet)
09/12/99 No paper mail from VodaFone Legal yet. I presume
since it has been over 14 days since I sent my reply to them via E-Mail, I won't be
receiving any. I was actually looking forward to reading it.
WAP should be available around 2 Quarter 2000 (same time as the Globalstar)
06/12/99 New base station at Mount Lofty (SA) now
online
03/12/99 Work has just started on a new tower in
Woodridge (QLD)
01/12/99 New tower at Rush Creek (QLD) online.
Thanks Gus!
26/11/99 Got a call from the VodaFone legal department today.
There main concerns are:-
"The information on my page could be out of date"
Pity VodaFone AU official site isn't up to date, Maybe they should pay more attention to there own site??? :-)
"People could be mislead into thinking this is the official site"
Well my page address doesn't begin with www.vodafone.com.au and it says Tim's this and that everywhere....
"I am getting paid to run this site"
I wish!! FAQ should have been read...
I will wait for there official letter in the mail.
25/11/99 New tower online at Northfield in Adelaide (SA)
Official Coverage maps return to VodaFone AU web page!
Wow it took them long enough!!! Maybe VodaFone is trying to catch up with my page!! heheheh :-)
24/11/99 Got a interesting E-Mail from VodaFone legal department today. Well since nothing on my site is illegal, I will keep everyone updated...
24/11/99 MobileBank should be working today...
23/11/99 Official Voda AU web page news section very interesting!!
Quote" Competition drives fall in mobile price". "Competition in the mobile telephony market has driven substantial falls in mobile prices,with the average Vodafone customer enjoying a 60 per cent fall in annual cost of a mobile service since 1993, according to research on mobile telephony pricing conducted by Vodafone" Unquote
So this excludes the fact that:-
-SMS has RISEN in price from 15c to 20c???
-Insurance will rise from $5.95 a month to $6.50 a month on the 1/12/1999??
Well I'm glad to see that VodaFone is STILL trying to hide something from its customers!!! Wake up VodaFone!!!
19/11/99 VodaFone mobile insurance price increase
From the 01/12/1999 VodaFone will increase its mobile phone insurance from $5.95 a month to $6.50. Well what's next call charges?? Access per month??
16/11/99 New tower near Elimbah (QLD) now online
14/11/99 Cash Converters and VodaFone to form a joint communications business
This will be interesting.... May be you will be able to buy second hand VodaFone towers and MSCs from cash converters soon?? HEHEHE :-)
11/11/99 New tower online at Rundle Mall in Adelaide (SA)
Sydney CBD coverage down! OH NO!!!
07/11/99 Funny e-mail i got from VodaFone the other day...
This is a copy of an e-mail i got from VodaFone Aust about were dual band available in Australia. If after reading it you think it is wrong, well you are right!!! It's a good laugh!!! HEHEHE
Subject:
RE: Reply wanted please! Dual Band availability
Date:
Fri, 5 Nov 1999 15:17:53 +1100
From:
CC Support Centre Strathfield <info@vodafone.com.au>
To:
"'mrvfone@fan.net.au'" <mrvfone@fan.net.au>
Hi Tim,
The only site set up in Australia at this point in time is our Head Office
at Chatswood in Sydney. This is an internal site that spills outside into
the courtyard area only. As previously stated it is not available to the
public apart from this.
Regards
Brad Vines
Customer Care Support
"To Serve & Communicate"
05/11/99 Eight Mile Plains (QLD) tower upgraded
2 new towers in Brisbane CBD (QLD) soon to be online
New tower at Holland Park West (QLD) soon to be online
03/11/99 Woodridge (QLD) now has enhanced coverage
29/10/99 SMSC is down again! The time 6:20 PM EST and it has been playing up for a few hours
28/10/99 New tower at Sth Tweed Heads (Gold Coast,QLD) now online
19/10/99 Braidwood (NSW) tower now online. Thanks Rich
16/10/99 Helensvale (Gold Coast QLD) tower upgrade complete
Mobile Base Station at the 99 Gold Coast Indy
Gaven Way (Gold Coast QLD) tower now online
15/10/99 11:00pm EST SMSC is down AGAIN! and has been for the last 3 hours
15/10/99 New Tower at Pacific Fair , Gold Coast (QLD) is online
14/10/99 Sydney HLR is down. If you are having any problems with your VodaFone that why.
03/10/99 SMS is working again!
SMS is back up! The time is 8:53 PM EST
03/10/99 Lots of news today!!
SMS server down!
SMS Sending / Receiving down today, SMS started playing up on Friday (1/10/99). SMS Send / Receive is still down now 8:00pm EST.
Brisbane (QLD) CBD now has Dual Band (GSM 1800)
Brisbane CBD has now got Dual Band (GSM 1800). You will need a Dual Band mobile phone to use this service and see the new Cell Broadcasts, Which are "CBD Dualband", "CBD North Dualband" and "Expressway Dualband".
New Tower in SA
Regency Park tower (SA) now online
24/09/99 New Coverage Update
NSW
NEW: Sydney Superdome (Olympic), Aquatic Center (Olympic), Mount Chapman and GPO Tower Building (Grocon) in-building. ENHANCED: SCG and Football Stadium.
QLD
NEW: MT Cudmore and Whiteside. ENHANCED: Caboolture and Mango Hill.
VIC
NEW: Alexandra. ENHANCED: Eaglehawk and Warranwood.
WA
NEW: Chidlow. ENHANCED: Meadow Springs, Edgewater and Duck Pond.
SA
ENHANCED: Somerton Park.
23/09/99 SMS Price increase reason!
Here is the reason I got from VodaFone as to why SMS have increased to 20c from 15c.
"SMS has unfortunately risen to 20c per message to bring us inline with other networks, who have been charging 20c for a while now."
Does that mean that because Telstras call prices are more expensive than VodaFone that we should raise our call prices to be inline with Telstra?? I don't think so. What ever happened to competition? and being better than another network not just the same as other networks? come on VodaFone put SMS back to 15c!! Do something for the customer!
20/09/99 SMS price increase update
SMS will go up to 20c from the 1/10/99, This includes people who are on contract.
14/09/99 New Tower near Runcorn (QLD) now online
This is a new type of tower, probably an Australia first is not a world first. The cells are located on a high tension power line tower! More info on this tower and pics soon!
04/09/99
New coverage (SOON) for the Dukes Highway in SA
The 4 new base stations will be located along the highway at Yumali, Culburra, Keith and
Bordertown
27/08/99 Well some "BAD" news today, SMS will be going up to 20c a message soon (should be around Oct). I think this is crap idea!!! How can Voda do this when they are giving away FREE SMS to Fast Fone customers for 3 months??? If anything SMS should come down in price!
25/08/99 New tower at Kidman Park (SA) now online
18/08/99 New tower at Coromandel Valley (SA) now online
15/08/99 3 month free SMS sending trial for all FAST FONE users!
All FAST FONE customers can now send SMS for free during the 3 month SMS sending trial.
Underwood/Kuraby (QLD) tower being upgraded
10/08/99 New Brisbane CBD north tower online
04/08/99 New tower at Mile End (SA) is now online. This provides enhanced coverage to Mile End, Torrensville, Parts of Henley Beach Road and South Road
29/07/99 New tower on Melbourne Street (SA) now
online
Provides enhanced coverage to Melbourne Street, Gilberton and College Park.
26/07/99 Fullarton (SA) tower is now online
22/07/99 Helensvale (QLD) tower is being upgraded
21/07/99 New towers online for July
NSW
Croydon Park 2 and Rankin.
NT
Katherine.
QLD
Oakey.
VIC
Yarra Junction.
16/07/99 VodaFone hit by South Park!
You can now use Voices from the people of South Park (The cartoon series) for you voice mail greeting. Just call 1505 from your VodaFone for more info. Also Fast Fone has also been rapped up in South Park too
Mt Gravatt (QLD) Tower now upgraded
15/07/99 New tower near Lytton (QLD) online
09/07/99 New towers online in South Australia
Two new tower sites are now online at Ridgehaven and Walkerville in SA. The Mile End tower should be online later this month. Thanks Mark!
06/07/99 VodaFone has been hit hard by the mellisa (E-Mail) virus. Well if you have been trying to e-mail VodaFone, that's why you haven't received a reply yet. Looks like no one was using Norton Antivirus!
01/07/99 VodaFone Australia has revamped there web site. Its about time too!
30/06/99 VodaFone has continued the 5c off peak Fast Fone rate from a Fast Fone to another VodaFone in Australia indefinitely
29/06/99 New VodaFone coverage maps are out for May 1999
Chatswood in NSW is now a Dual Band (GSM 1800) area . All dual band (GSM 1800) cells/towers will have modified cell broadcasts. They will have the original cell broadcast, plus "Dual Band" at the end. E.G The cell broadcast for Chatswood in NSW is "Chatswood Dual Band".
26/06/99 New tower at Mayne (QLD) now online
Morning Side (QLD) tower now upgraded
New tower Thornlie (WA) located about 15km's South East of Perth, Now online, Thanks for that one Rob!
12/06/99 Brisbane CBD now has enhanced coverage
11/06/99 VodaFone and the Commonwealth Bank introduce mobile phone banking
From September 99 VodaFone customers will be able to do their banking using their mobile phones keypad and display.
01/06/99 VodaFone to add SMS sending to Fast Fone (Pre-Paid) soon
17/05/99 NEW "Palm Tree" tower at Southport (QLD) online
12/05/99 NEW tower near Pullenvale, Brisbane (QLD) is online
10/05/99 Tower at Mt Ommaney in Brisbane (QLD) has been upgraded
03/05/99 New site to enhance coverage in Isle Of Capri, Sorrento and Bundall
NEW "Palm Tree" tower near the Southport bridge, Southport (QLD) online soon
02/05/99 VodaFone new call plans! Should be available from 1st of may (yesterday). More info to follow soon. Welcome to per second call charges!!!
15/04/99 NEW and ENHANCED towers online for March/April 99
QLD
NEW: Boonah, Seven Sisters, Mt Little, Cowley, GreenHill, Tully, Oyster Point, CardWell, Mt Mary, Grahams Range, Mossman. ENHANCED: Spring Hill South, Kedron, Albany Creek East, Lawnton, Mayne, Sandgate, Thornlands, Mt Cotton, Glass House Mountains, Park Ridge, Main Beach
NSW
NEW: Redfern Railway Station, Bewong. ENHANCED: Randwick, Lane Cove, Epping M2 Tunnel, Winston Hills M2 Motorway, Mortdale, North St Ives, Gordon, Woolwich, Spit Junction, Avalon, Hornsby Shops, Beverly Hills, Auburn, Toongabbie, Parramatta, Marsden Park, Exhibition Halls Showground Homebush, Stadium Australia, Warners, Bathurst CBD, Thirroul, Robertson, Rankin, Crown Street Mall.
VIC
NEW: Mt Gellibrand, Museum Railway Station, Flagstaff Railway Station, Bright, Yarra Junction, Parliament Railway Station. ENHANCED: Leopold, Bairnsdale Central, Oakleigh, Caulfield North, Tarneit, Flinders.
SA
NEW: ENHANCED: Clarendon, Moana, Mt Torrens.
ACT
ENHANCED: Braddon.
TAS
NEW: Perth, Mt Faulkner, George Town.
WA
NEW: Dampier. ENHANCED: Byford, Hillarys, Mt Lawley, Tamala Park, Ascot.
NT
NEW: Katherine.
05/04/99 No "Happy Easter" cell broadcast this year, Probably due to complaints about it last year or at Christmas time
21/03/99 NEW Tower at Byford (WA) is now online. Thanks again Rob!!
19/03/99 Fast Fones 5c per min special offer extended till the 30th of June 99 (30/6/99)
17/03/99 NEW Towers at Ascot & Mt Lawley in WA are online. Thanks Rob!
11/03/99 NEW Dual Band (GSM 1800) network online in selected areas
These new areas are,
Albert Park area for the Grand Prix in Melbourne and parts of Sydney. More to follow soon.
03/03/99 The "Grand Prix" in Melbourne has a few Mobile Base Stations online. Thanks Leon!
01/03/99 Beenleigh (QLD) tower upgrade finished
NEW "Palm Tree" tower near the Southport bridge, Southport (QLD). Not online yet
26/02/99 NEW Tower at Byford (WA) about 45km's south west of Perth soon to be online
NEW Tower at Ascot (WA) soon to be online
NEW Tower at Malaga (WA) about 15km N of Perth soon to be online
NEW Tower at Mt Lawley (WA) approx 3kms N of Perth soon to be online
Thanks Rob for all of these!
12/02/99 Mt Gravatt (QLD) tower is being upgraded
11/02/99 NEW Tower at Kewdale (WA) (Approx 10km's east of Perth) now online. Thanks Rob!
08/02/99 NEW Tower at Gumdale (QLD) online
05/02/99 NEW Tower at SunnyBank / Kuraby / Runcorn / Fruitgrove (QLD) Now online
30/01/99 NEW Tower at Fruitgrove / Runcorn (QLD) soon to be online
28/01/99 NEW Tower at Archerfield Airport / Salisbury / Oxley (QLD) Now online
22/01/99 NEW Tower at Kuraby / Underwood (QLD) Now online
21/01/99 NEW and ENHANCED towers online for Jan 99
QLD
NEW: Yeppoon. ENHANCED: (none)
NSW
NEW: Mudgee, Urandangie, Ben Lomond, Mt Magistrate, Nambucca Heads, Yamba-iluka, Kings Cross R-Way STN, Bondi Junction R-Way STN. ENHANCED: Morisset, Glenmore Park.
VIC
NEW: (none) ENHANCED: Oak Park.
SA
NEW: Tarlee, Kadina, Moonta. ENHANCED: Salisbury East and Greenwith.
20/01/99 Old but Relevant E-mail Info about the Dual band GSM1800 network
Mon, 27 Jul 1998 11:35:00
+1000
From:
CC Correspondence <correspondence@vodafone.com.au>
To:
Tim <mrvfone@fan.net.au>
Tim,
The answer is a conditional YES to both. Vodafone has purchased 1800
spectrum and will be building an 1800 network .. but in the places of high
mobile traffic such as the CBD of Sydney and Melbourne. 1800 will not be
available where there is adequate 900 spectrum to carry all the traffic.
In the areas of high traffic where an 1800 network is installed dual mode
mobiles will be the required handset to access the new network
regards
MarkS, AngeJ
Vodafone Network Customer Care
18/01/99 VodaFone UK to merge with AirTouch!
In a AUST $88 billion deal VodaFone UK will merge With US AirTouch Comms to make VODAFONE AIRTOUCH.
15/01/99 NEW tower at Balcatta (WA) is now online. Thanks Rob!
14/01/99 VodaFone UK has number portability as from 1st January. Will we get it here soon??? I hope so!
New Tower at Kuraby / Underwood (QLD) soon to be online
13/01/99 Lots of NEWS!!!
New online date for GlobalStar VodaFones satellite network to be operational January 2000
VodaFone UK Talks with AirTouch about Merger! http://www.iht.com/IHT/TECH/tek010699b.html
12/01/99 FAST FONE has started using the 0415 XXX XXX number range
05/01/99 The NEW Mount Gravatt 2 / Mansfield 2 (QLD) tower is now online
05/01/99 VodaFone`s reason for removing SMS sending from the web via " www.mtn.co.za ". This news is a bit old but I have included it here for all to see. This is the response I got e-mailed to me :-
This is a service offered by a network
operating in South Africa, MTN. It is
not a service that has been offered nor endorsed by Vodafone in Australia.
This decision was not made lightly, and there were good reasons for the
approach adopted.
Customers of Vodafone Network were receiving threatening and abusive
messages via this mechanism. Also unwanted 'junk mail' messages were being
sent, unsolicited, to our customers. This was occurring too often to be
ignored by Vodafone.
However, MTN does not monitor of this service. MTN is responsible for the
addressing and transmission of messages, leaving no mechanism available to
Vodafone to control the service and who receives the messages other than to
stop it. There is no way to prevent parties from transmitting the service in
the first place. Secondly, no mechanism is available to block, at their
request, customers from receiving unsolicited messages.
Vodafone is currently considering possible approaches that may accommodate
both customers who require a mechanism to send these Messages and also those
who do not wish to receive them. It is hoped that resolution will be reached
quickly but no definitive time frame is available today.
Vodafone's customers' patience in this matter is appreciated.
Regards
Ange
Network Vodafone
01/01/99 VodaFone has change Cell Broadcast to "Happy 1999"
(c) Tim Merrell 1997-1999-2004 http://www.mrvfone.com.au
2.0.1