Vodafone to provide Australian PlayStation Vita 3G service

Brenton Currie
Tuesday, 22 November 2011 07:00

Your IT - Entertainment

Sony has overnight announced a partnership with Vodafone that will see the company become the recommended provider of 3G data services for Sony's forthcoming PlayStation Vita in Australia.

Sony's forthcoming PlayStation Vita (Credit: Sony)

Sony will ship the 3G-capable PlayStation Vita with a Vodafone SIM card that will encourage customers to use Vodafone's network as a preferred partner. Vodafone's 3G data deals for the Vita will be forthcoming closer to the device's launch date Sony says.

The deal will see Vodafone become the preferred provider of data services for the Vita not only in Australia, but also the Vodafone subsidiaries in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand and The Netherlands.

Sony's Vita device - the next-gen handheld gaming device that has a whole host of new features including an OLED touch display, motion sensors and dual cameras, will launch in Australia on the February 23 next year with a price tag of $449.95 for the 3G and Wi-Fi model (the Wi-Fi only model will cost $349.95).

To encourage users to utilise the Vodafone network rather than look elsewhere, Sony will provide a voucher for WipEout 2048 once the Vita starts using the service.

However the company has confirmed that users won't be locked to Vodafone, and will in fact be able to use any carrier (the Vita isn't SIM-locked). But, Sony says, it won't be able to provide the same 'quality assurance' with other untested carriers with customers also to miss out on the WipEout 2048 voucher.