O2 unveil 4G coverage plans
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O2 have made the first indications of what their 4G coverage plans are. Unsurprisingly they plan to concentrate on highly populated areas much like EE.
Britain’s second biggest operator said it will follow EE’s lead in focusing on large population centres first.
I would expect O2 to have coverage much like 3G until Ofcom give them a warning. Although im sure some people will disagree. But this certainly indicates how they intend to "progress"
Britain’s second biggest operator said it will follow EE’s lead in focusing on large population centres first.
I would expect O2 to have coverage much like 3G until Ofcom give them a warning. Although im sure some people will disagree. But this certainly indicates how they intend to "progress"
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http://www.mobilecomms-technology.com/projects/gprs_uk/gprs_uk1.html
I wonder if O2 will argue to Ofcom to try and take away the coverage obligation of the frequency lot they won for 4G like they did with 3G. Of course they never met that obligation and were sanctioned by Ofcom for it.
All Ofcom did was warn them and give them 4 months to improve or they would be fined £40 Million and have their licence shortened by 6 months.
The really funny thing is what the O2 Spokesman had to say about it.
He could get a job as the Iraqi Information Minister PMSL
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ofcom-threatens-o2-with-16340m-penalty-for-failing-to-reach-3g-coverage-targets-788594.html
Very tiresome...... and they still top the Ofcom surveys for customer satisfaction, lowest escalted complaints and have been growing their subscriber base.
There were very good business reasons for O2 to limit 3G rollout but they don't have that option with the spectrum block they won for 4G. Just as 3 made a huge U Turn with Internet strategy a few years ago, O2 will have to do likewise with coverage. So rather than repeating the same tired old assumptions, lets wait and see how they do when they start selling 4G services.
Their 3G spectrum came with a coverage obligation too, which they didn't meet. That lead the regulator to threaten them with shortening their licence / a fine.
If their strategy is high prices and low data coverage then what will change with 4G?
Indeed.
Realistically it didn't do O2 any financial harm in delaying meeting their coverage obligations for 3G so they could probably save some money by delaying 4G coverage obligations.
Exactly..... 3 was a total basket case (£11 billion invested and a company worth a fraction of that) and has carved out a niche market offering unlimited Internet on mobiles despite being the last to offer unrestricted Internet access on 3G.
Companies have to revise their business strategies to survive in the market, that is normal.
Looking back doesn't always provide an accurate idea of how things will develop in the future.
O2 have already stated they will mirror EE's initial 4G roll out so this is the likely rollout plan.
Year 1 Cities only (Summer 2014)
Year 2 Major Towns only (Summer 2015)
Year 3 Smaller towns (Summer 2016)
Year 4 Rural (Summer 2017)
The same O2 haters will post the same negative stuff they have being doing for months.
It will take some time to see if the sceptics predictions are valid.
Is the Vodafone deal still on? Cornerstone has gone quiet recently. Surely with 1 company with a coverage obligation and another without, 1 company with 2600 Mhz and 1 without there's going to be some difference of needs / challenges.
They managed to discredit themselves just fine
Unless you want to dispute what Ofcom had to threaten O2 with
I had pointed out in another thread there is issues over having to do different coverage strategy's for 2600MHz and 800MHz. O2 will have to use low power on 800MHz in highly populated areas to ease congestion. This is easier to do if you have 2 bands of spectrum to play with like Vodafone.
Absolutely spot on and that is what makes the ridiculous predictions of the well known O2 hate brigade on here utterly nonsensical in terms of their future 4G coverage.
How can you say spot on, the post was criticising your earlier point of view
Nobody made predictions, only thoughts or feelings about O2's 4G coverage investment based upon previous form, backed up with the information on what happened with that network on the last gen technology rollout. Even if you call it a prediction, there's nothing wrong with making one and using relevant information to make an informed one.
As credible as they were when they didn't meet the last coverage obligation, which was much lower?
Vodafone and O2 a both poor performing when it come to 3G coverage
Two poor performers does not equate to one great performer
With a tin-pot network that collapses with surprising regularity and when it is managing to work provides the finest in 2G technologies, credibility is not exactly something O2 has a lot of at the moment.
Aye right..... that's why both O2 and Vodafone deliver 6-8Mbps is my area and 3 can't manage 1Mbps!
Hmmmm... the proof of the pudding.... as ever.
My latest 3 performance experience using a 21Mbps capable dongle in an upgraded 'ultrafast' area:
http://speedtest.net/result/2562344588.png
Well why don't you just go back to O2
Anyway I was talking about 3G coverage not about network congestion. You could always go for Virgin I suppose who aim to deliver a nice capped 2Mb
I have NEVER been with O2 apart from GiffGaff for voice and texts!
What evidence can be provided about network congestion in relation to the poor speed experienced?
Why dont you get others forum members on Three to run speed tests? I expect it may be a local congestion issue. You have a thread about it after all.
GiffGaff is actually owned by Telefónica but don't tell O2 in case they get jealous
http://www.telefonica.com/en/digital/html/about_telefonica_digital/about_giffgaff.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giffgaff