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My assessment of the 5 mobile networks in the UK
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Thine Wonk
08-09-2009
Originally Posted by wavejockglw:
“And unlikely to be completed if today's news is accurate re T-Mobile/Orange's merger.
”

It seems the 2 networks are going to remain separate and only share back room operations and some facilities.

and anyway the t-mobile / 3 deal is too far in and Nokia Siemens and National Grid Wireless are already rolling it out, most of the money has been spent on the planning and the equipment already so it's unlikely to be cancelled.

Once completed 'mobile broadband uk' will be a separate company which Orange if they want can sell their 50% to whoever. It'll be worth more complete than to cancel now when it's more than 1/2 done.

As Orange are going to keep t-mobile separate then it's clear that the t-mobile and 3 deal will actually save t-mobile 1/2 the cost anyway and Orange is also planning network shares. The back room staff will be merged and there will be job losses, but they won't merge into 1 network.

This was always about the former owners of T-mobile wanting to exit the UK and sell a viable business to another operator who wanted it.
Thine Wonk
08-09-2009
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/08/t_orange/

Right now T-Mobile has around 10,000 2G base stations, while Orange runs about 13,000; both companies operate around 7,000 3G base stations. T-Mobile has already started upgrading all its 2G bases to support 3G and that will be the strategy for the new venture, which eventually plans to have between 14,000 and 16,000 bases in operation.

Virgin Mobile, who could have walked away from its MVNO arrangement with T-Mobile thanks to the "change of ownership" clause in its contract, are apparently all in favour of the deal. Equally unaffected will be 3, who already has a network-sharing deal in progress with T-Mobile. During the press conference this morning 3 was variously described as "highly supportive", "strongly supportive" and "hugely supportive", so we gather that the operator is in favour of the deal.

Maybe 'mobile broadband uk' will be the new 3, Orange and T-mobile 3g network ?! After all it will be the newest, most modern, with 99% population coverage 3g and tones of bandwidth. I think that's enough to convince orange to pile in some existing 3g equipment and take the rest of Orange 3g down.
wavejockglw
08-09-2009
T-Mobile and Orange both have GSM 1800 and UMTS 2100 networks. They indend to share those to make savings and the 3 UK arrangement that currently exists will probably not be to their joint business interest. The key factor is not what is in place currently it is what is in the future interest of the dominant providers.

It makes little sense for a combined Orange/T-Mobile to co-operate with 3 UK other than them selling 3 some access to GSM 1800 coverage.

This new deal is about consolodation and creates two partnerships (Orange/T-Mobile and Vodafone/02) which both have licences for GSM/UMTS in the UK. Terminating 3's sharing arrangement with T-Mobile would force Hutchison Whampoa to dispose of 3 UK and exit the market because their individual operating costs would be much higher than their compeditors.

This has arisen due to market forces and the UK has been over provisoned in terms of cellular networks for some years. Within a year the mobile operator landscape will have changed dramatically and I am confident there will remain only 3 companies sharing 2 sets of infrastructure. This is more than sufficient for both coverage and volume of data. The reuse of the 900Mhz range of frequencies for 3G/HSDPA/LTE will provide vastly more robust and reliable spectrum for those left in the market and will deliver LTE (Long Term Evolution) high speed wireless broadband that will be able to compete with fixed line services including fibre optic. Those fewer players will be able to make a return on investment on high speed services and that will ultimately benefit consumers as the facilities offered by fixed line and wireless provision narrows.
moox
09-09-2009
Originally Posted by wavejockglw:
“Orange has good 3G coverage across the UK and T-Mobile was one of the first with HSDPA,”

You can't really make such sweeping generalisations. Down here, 3 are the only network to be on if you want anything approaching consistent 3G coverage. Orange are incredibly spotty (despite their maps saying otherwise).
TheBigM
09-09-2009
The reduction of MNOs in the marketspace could lead to OfCom forcing to sale of spectrum that the others are holding. OfCOM have already been considering forcing O2 or Vodafone to sell spectrum as they did not meet the required 3G coverage in the deadline.

This could be beneficial to 3 if it can get its hands on some spectrum currently being used for 2G and use it for 2G/4G.

3 has been the most disruptive and innovative of the MNOs with things such as Skype phones, free WLM, the facebook phone. Wasn't it the first to offer dongle-based mobile broadband? 3 was the first with video-capable handsets.

As such, an exit of 3 from the market will be a loss for the consumer as the other 3 providers will settle into a similar sort of oligopoly as was before the 3G license auction.
plymouthbloke1974
09-09-2009
Originally Posted by Thine Wonk:
“It seems the 2 networks are going to remain separate and only share back room operations and some facilities.”

For the first 18 months... it is then expected to merge fully into one entity.

I am VERY interested in what 3 think about this!
Redcoat
09-09-2009
Originally Posted by cordunkni:
“Me for one - very poor both at home and at work. Now on O2 and much happier.”

T-Mobile's coverage (2G & 3G) has for many years been an ongoing bad joke in Northern Ireland, which probably explains why it only has an approx. 2% share of the market here.
clonmult
09-09-2009
Originally Posted by moox:
“You can't really make such sweeping generalisations. Down here, 3 are the only network to be on if you want anything approaching consistent 3G coverage. Orange are incredibly spotty (despite their maps saying otherwise).”

True, and the same can be levelled against all the operators.

I've had the misfortune of being on the 4 main networks for voice, and had signal issues on all at one location or other.

Right now I only have signal problems on Orange at my ex wifes house .....
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