EE and now Three phone networks - coverage and service experience?

[Doc883]

I worked for Orange from 1997 to 2009 as one of the coverage planners for Scotland looking after the lower Highlands, the Grampians, Tayside and the Lothians so a massive patch.
We were TUPE'd to Nokia Siemens Networks in 2009 and more latterly this has become Nokia again after we bought out Siemens, roughly the same time that Microsoft bought our handset division.
I am currently working on the 4G rollout contract for EE where we also have a Buy In/Free Carrier obligation to H3g so expect to see their coverage broaden and improve. Additionally where Three don't currently have coverage the fallback is to roam onto 2G with A.N.Other operator so you should still have coverage but poor data speeds.
We have in the region of 6300 EE sites to upgrade to 4G and I am personally involved in the North of England and Scotland which is an equal split of circa 1100 sites each.

I find there is very little to differentiate coverage in the urban areas these days but rural areas can be different with Vodafone and O2 tending to take the lead.
And no I can't do cheap I-Phones

[tut]

All I want to do is make a bloody phone call now and then, i.e.:- breakdown call the AA, heart attack call 999, Lost in France call Robin, hard on call an Escort Agency etc, 2G, 3G, 4G, get a life, its a phone to call another phone.

tut

[DDtB]

Just having a wee look at the Vodafone offering.

12 months Spotify premium included. Given I already pay £10 a month for that, if I was to get it 'free' it means I can knock £10 a month off the contract costs.

Suddenly Vodafone at a net £16 a month for the L package or £24 for the XL package is a lot more tempting.

Hmmmm

[mxvx]

Oh really. I also pay for spotify so need to look into that.

[DDtB]

Vodafone sim now ordered.

£60 cashback via Quidco plus £120 of free Spotify, combined with their current 'sale' means you can get Unlimited Mins, Unlimited Texts and 7gig of data for a net £10.60 a month. Not too shabby.

Have a wee chinwag with the online chat girlie and she might actually throw in unlimited data for a while for you too

[campbell]

Online chat girlie? What sort of establishment have you been dealing with?!

[mxvx]

Vodafone sim now ordered.

£60 cashback via Quidco plus £120 of free Spotify, combined with their current 'sale' means you can get Unlimited Mins, Unlimited Texts and 7gig of data for a net £10.60 a month. Not too shabby.

Have a wee chinwag with the online chat girlie and she might actually throw in unlimited data for a while for you too

Where is this deal? Just on vodaphone site and go through quidco?
This looks perfect for me. Currently spending £12 month with giffgaff and £10 with spotify.

[DDtB]

Spotify is free for 12 months with their Red L and XL tariffs on sim only and they are discounting them until the end of December. All on the standard Vodafone shop website.

Make sure you got via Quidco and you'll get £60 cashback too.

I got to talking with the live chat girlie and she sweetened the deal even more


Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk

[mxvx]

Sounds perfect for me. Thanks. Might even do live chat!

[H8OAG]

With my limited knowledge of all things cellular
Try before you buy - using a pay and go sim to check coverage where you are most likely to use it!
Nothing worse than getting home/office to find your new phone does not work

The lower frequency bands tend to deliver better coverage

The higher frequency bands (EE) can sometimes struggle with inbuildng coverage

I have returned to O2 after a brief dalliance with Voda and EE ..... and in my view .... Far better all round

They are allegedly just about to be bought by BT .... who have done the due dilligence on the Networks that are "For Sale"

[scott_e]

My organisation Concirrus is an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator). Allows us to brand and issue our own Sims. These Sims can roam across any UK network be it EE, Voda, O2 (actually loads of networks worldwide). Generally we offer data only (no voice) specifically for m2m devices, we don't really compete in the consumer arena sorry. We have a Private APN product (SimSafe) that allows us to manage , cap and alert on data usage which is perfect for cheap remote GPRS devices that may easily get stolen and nobody can re use the SIM and run up a large bill.

My point being its likely other MVNOs (GiffGaff, Tesco Mobile for example) offer multi network roaming in the UK for the consumer market rather than being stuck on one cell network.

Cheers
Scott

[Fluoxetine]

Having been a consumer participant in the smart phone 'arms race' since I bought a Sony P800 back in 2002, I decided to give up when my contract ended in September just past, sticking with my old iPhone 5 and going sim only.

I'd been with Orange since 1998, but have switched to Three - It's a no brainer given my situation, with great chunks of time spent in Ireland (a 'feel three at home' destination) and the the rest in the UK / mainland Europe.

My shiny iPhone 5 on EE had been sat in a drawer because of the hefty roaming charges - Ended up using my knackered iPhone 4 on an Irish PAYG sim the bulk of the time.

Switching to Three means it's not a concern anymore - I can use my phone as if I'm in the UK, and £15 pcm covers all my needs.

Coverage-wise, it's fine - Even in the UK, I don't really notice a deterioration in service compared with EE.

The roaming deal is a massive advantage for Three - EE sounded quite resigned when I mentioned this while terminating a 16 year relationship, often at £45+ pcm terms...

[campbell]

Just waiting for my number to be ported. Hopefully Tuesday. Then can try the service in anger. Even here in Dumfries it has a 3G signal to rival O2. Woop de doo...

[Lazydonkey]

Spotify is free for 12 months with their Red L and XL tariffs on sim only and they are discounting them until the end of December. All on the standard Vodafone shop website.

Make sure you got via Quidco and you'll get £60 cashback too.

I got to talking with the live chat girlie and she sweetened the deal even more


Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk

How are you finding the vodafone experience dave ?

[DDtB]

They are utter cnut. Might have to go to their offices soon and go postal.


Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk