Vodafone: We’re Good, We Promise

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In fact, they are so confident of their newly built network they are promising no lock-ins on contracts if customers aren’t happy with the coverage.

Vodafone is offering new and upgrading customers a ‘Network Guarantee,’ which follows its recent $1 billion upgrades.

The guarantee allows postpaid customers buying a smartphone, tablet or broadband device to “experience” its revamped network, but can cancel the plan if they’re not fully satisfied within the first 30 days of their contract.

Customers can return the device and only pay for what they’ve used until the cancellation goes through, the telco said Friday.

The Vodafone Network Guarantee was first made available to new customers in South Australia and Canberra in September and has been “well received” in both areas with few returns, the telco confirmed.

The introduction of the network promises follows 14 months of upgrades after the network disaster that was late 2010/early 2011, which saw call drops, poor coverage, and led to it being branded ‘Vodafail.’

“We fast-tracked our $1 billion network investment from the start of last year to deliver a better network experience to our customers. We’ve now completed more than two-thirds of our new 850MHz network build, and we plan to have this completed by Q3 this year,” said Nigel Dews, CEO.

And this isn’t the only makeover the telco has given itself of late – last week it slashed prices of its mobile and broadband plan in a bid to win consumers back after the backlash it incurred last year.

Vodafone Hutchinson Australia also recently announced a announced a net loss of $167.7m for full year 2011.

Vodafone has so far built more than 1000 new 850MHz 3G sites and installed new 3G and 4G-ready equipment at more than 4,050 other sites. There is further multi-million dollar network investments planned for 2012.