3 have started switching off 2G roaming coverage that is provided by Orange in selected areas. Its probably the thin edge of the wedge.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11...range_roaming/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11...range_roaming/
3 start switching off 2G coverage
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I would say it's probably not the thin end of the wedge. they have nothing to gain by removing coverage. just in the areas where they have both they don't want people using the 2G because it costs them money.
I'm really glad I didn't choose 3 for my last contract.
Their roaming deal has always put me off, this is only going to make it worse
Their roaming deal has always put me off, this is only going to make it worse
glad to have moved to t-mobile too, don't see why they are turning of 2G, if thr 3G signal is good enough they as most phones cant be fixed onto 2G then it wont be a problem. So glad to be shot of them!
Originally Posted by technoflare:
“glad to have moved to t-mobile too, don't see why they are turning of 2G, if thr 3G signal is good enough they as most phones cant be fixed onto 2G then it wont be a problem. So glad to be shot of them!”
“glad to have moved to t-mobile too, don't see why they are turning of 2G, if thr 3G signal is good enough they as most phones cant be fixed onto 2G then it wont be a problem. So glad to be shot of them!”
it's difficult to decipher the exact meaning of this.
but i think you are saying that if they had a good enough 3G signal then devices wouldn't pick up the 2G signal.
sadly this is not the case. if the handsets we able to be configured to use 2G only when 3G wasn't available then fair enough. but that is not the case, and it is very possible for a hand set to connect to 2G when there is a perfectly good 3G signal.
Originally Posted by flagpole:
“it's difficult to decipher the exact meaning of this.
but i think you are saying that if they had a good enough 3G signal then devices wouldn't pick up the 2G signal.
sadly this is not the case. if the handsets we able to be configured to use 2G only when 3G wasn't available then fair enough. but that is not the case, and it is very possible for a hand set to connect to 2G when there is a perfectly good 3G signal.”
“it's difficult to decipher the exact meaning of this.
but i think you are saying that if they had a good enough 3G signal then devices wouldn't pick up the 2G signal.
sadly this is not the case. if the handsets we able to be configured to use 2G only when 3G wasn't available then fair enough. but that is not the case, and it is very possible for a hand set to connect to 2G when there is a perfectly good 3G signal.”
They're referring to how 3 customises the firmware on most of the phones that they sell to stop the user being able to manually choose to use the 2G network.
Originally Posted by Daveoc64:
“They're referring to how 3 customises the firmware on most of the phones that they sell to stop the user being able to manually choose to use the 2G network.”
“They're referring to how 3 customises the firmware on most of the phones that they sell to stop the user being able to manually choose to use the 2G network.”
Ah sure, most phone on 3 can't be set to 2G only mode. for obvious reasons.
this story is one of those ones where people get their knickers in a bunch over nothing. assuming Three aren't lying then nobody will lose any signal.
Originally Posted by flagpole:
“Ah sure, most phone on 3 can't be set to 2G only mode. for obvious reasons.
this story is one of those ones where people get their knickers in a bunch over nothing. assuming Three aren't lying then nobody will lose any signal.”
“Ah sure, most phone on 3 can't be set to 2G only mode. for obvious reasons.
this story is one of those ones where people get their knickers in a bunch over nothing. assuming Three aren't lying then nobody will lose any signal.”
They aren't lying. They've made it clear that some people will lose reception as a result of the change.
It's impossible for them to accurately predict where 2G coverage is and isn't needed.
I'd rather let the phone decide what to do.
Originally Posted by Daveoc64:
“They aren't lying. They've made it clear that some people will lose reception as a result of the change.
It's impossible for them to accurately predict where 2G coverage is and isn't needed.
I'd rather let the phone decide what to do.”
“They aren't lying. They've made it clear that some people will lose reception as a result of the change.
It's impossible for them to accurately predict where 2G coverage is and isn't needed.
I'd rather let the phone decide what to do.”
you're assuming that the phone decides on merit which network to connect to. But It doesn't.
Originally Posted by flagpole:
“you're assuming that the phone decides on merit which network to connect to. But It doesn't.”
“you're assuming that the phone decides on merit which network to connect to. But It doesn't.”
I'm not assuming anything. I'm not talking about that.
I object to a network blocking the use of what, for many people, will be the only signal that they can get to save a little money.
Other networks have done this around the world and it's almost always flawed.
Originally Posted by Daveoc64:
“I'm not assuming anything. I'm not talking about that.
I object to a network blocking the use of what, for many people, will be the only signal that they can get to save a little money.
Other networks have done this around the world and it's almost always flawed.”
“I'm not assuming anything. I'm not talking about that.
I object to a network blocking the use of what, for many people, will be the only signal that they can get to save a little money.
Other networks have done this around the world and it's almost always flawed.”
what are you talking about. that is not what they are doing.
Originally Posted by flagpole:
“what are you talking about. that is not what they are doing.”
“what are you talking about. that is not what they are doing.”
Yes it is.
They are disabling access to the Orange 2G signal in areas that they think their own 3G network has enough coverage to match that.
Given the complexity in predicting where the 2G network is no longer needed, there are bound to be places where people will no longer get a usable signal.
The more cautious they are with determining these areas, the less money they will save. I'd be interested to see exactly how they are deciding what an adequate 3G signal is. Outdoor predicted signal?
Any company that gives hundreds of jobs to people abroad, rather than support British people, just to save a few bob, doesn't deserve any British customers in this Pencil's opinion.
It's a good job for them that most people don't know/don't care.
I guess in this case (which I can kind of understand), they're counting on the same reaction.
It's a good job for them that most people don't know/don't care.
I guess in this case (which I can kind of understand), they're counting on the same reaction.
Originally Posted by Daveoc64:
“Yes it is.
They are disabling access to the Orange 2G signal in areas that they think their own 3G network has enough coverage to match that.
Given the complexity in predicting where the 2G network is no longer needed, there are bound to be places where people will no longer get a usable signal.
The more cautious they are with determining these areas, the less money they will save. I'd be interested to see exactly how they are deciding what an adequate 3G signal is. Outdoor predicted signal?”
“Yes it is.
They are disabling access to the Orange 2G signal in areas that they think their own 3G network has enough coverage to match that.
Given the complexity in predicting where the 2G network is no longer needed, there are bound to be places where people will no longer get a usable signal.
The more cautious they are with determining these areas, the less money they will save. I'd be interested to see exactly how they are deciding what an adequate 3G signal is. Outdoor predicted signal?”
Yes but their 3G coverage has increased by a lot in the last year. That has cost money, at the end of the day it's a choice they have made.
They are only doing it in areas where there is good 3G coverage i.e multiple masts in an area meaning the only people that would be affected would be in a basement or very thick walled house possibly.
I don't think this will be a big issue, they have added over a million customers recently, I shouldn't think many will leave because 2G is disabled in certain areas.
Originally Posted by Thine Wonk:
“They are only doing it in areas where there is good 3G coverage i.e multiple masts in an area meaning the only people that would be affected would be in a basement or very thick walled house possibly.”
“They are only doing it in areas where there is good 3G coverage i.e multiple masts in an area meaning the only people that would be affected would be in a basement or very thick walled house possibly.”
That's not a risk that I'd like to take on a 24 month contract.
Originally Posted by Daveoc64:
“That's not a risk that I'd like to take on a 24 month contract.”
“That's not a risk that I'd like to take on a 24 month contract.”
You can easily get a free pay-as-you-go SIM card that would allow you to access the network and check signal strength at home, work etc before committing to a contract.
But even in areas where it's still enabled, the roaming on 3 is its biggest weakness. Yes, the 3G coverage is the best around, but for me, losing 3G and roaming onto 2G often takes around two to three minutes, during which I'm out of connectivity. My phone will then struggle to reconnect to things like push email, which I use in place of texting for overseas friends, so I'm forever losing messages.
Contrast that to a network like Vodafone, where losing 3G will immediately push you onto 2G without even disconnecting data or dropping a call, and you have a network with a huge achilles heel. The roaming is the only reason I don't stick around with 3 for anything other than Mobile Broadband, despite it having the far superior 3G network.
Originally Posted by belleville1:
“You can easily get a free pay-as-you-go SIM card that would allow you to access the network and check signal strength at home, work etc before committing to a contract.”
“You can easily get a free pay-as-you-go SIM card that would allow you to access the network and check signal strength at home, work etc before committing to a contract.”
Given that they are changing things over time, that's not a safe way to check.
All networks are changing things, Orange will be decomming masts, t-mobile has been, even O2 has been chopping and changing to share structures with Vodafone.
Originally Posted by Thine Wonk:
“All networks are changing things, Orange will be decomming masts, t-mobile has been, even O2 has been chopping and changing to share structures with Vodafone.”
“All networks are changing things, Orange will be decomming masts, t-mobile has been, even O2 has been chopping and changing to share structures with Vodafone.”
I know a few sites locally that have been affected by the O2/Vodafone partnership.
All that happened was the O2 antennas being raised higher off the ground and new Vodafone ones being installed.
Originally Posted by Pencil:
“Any company that gives hundreds of jobs to people abroad, rather than support British people, just to save a few bob, doesn't deserve any British customers in this Pencil's opinion.”
“Any company that gives hundreds of jobs to people abroad, rather than support British people, just to save a few bob, doesn't deserve any British customers in this Pencil's opinion.”
Them doing that allows them to be competitive on price allowing consumers to all save money. They also provide competition to the rest of the industry at large. 3 are probably the most innovative of all the networks in terms of the products they release. They also employ people in shops and head office functions. All these people would also lose their job for the sake of some call centre staff.
Business is global. The UK is no longer an island but one spoke of the european wheel in the global bicycle. Get used to it, we can either compete with the rest of the world or die.
Perhaps the Labour, "the government can pay for us, they got loadsa dosh innit" will save us all.
Originally Posted by Daveoc64:
“I know a few sites locally that have been affected by the O2/Vodafone partnership.
All that happened was the O2 antennas being raised higher off the ground and new Vodafone ones being installed.”
“I know a few sites locally that have been affected by the O2/Vodafone partnership.
All that happened was the O2 antennas being raised higher off the ground and new Vodafone ones being installed.”
Ahh but where was the decommissioned mast or one that was nearby the Vodafone one that got turned off !?
Originally Posted by Thine Wonk:
“Ahh but where was the decommissioned mast or one that was nearby the Vodafone one that got turned off !?”
“Ahh but where was the decommissioned mast or one that was nearby the Vodafone one that got turned off !?”
It was additional capacity.
Originally Posted by TheBigM:
“Them doing that allows them to be competitive on price allowing consumers to all save money. They also provide competition to the rest of the industry at large. 3 are probably the most innovative of all the networks in terms of the products they release. They also employ people in shops and head office functions. All these people would also lose their job for the sake of some call centre staff.
Business is global. The UK is no longer an island but one spoke of the european wheel in the global bicycle. Get used to it, we can either compete with the rest of the world or die.
Perhaps the Labour, "the government can pay for us, they got loadsa dosh innit" will save us all.”
“Them doing that allows them to be competitive on price allowing consumers to all save money. They also provide competition to the rest of the industry at large. 3 are probably the most innovative of all the networks in terms of the products they release. They also employ people in shops and head office functions. All these people would also lose their job for the sake of some call centre staff.
Business is global. The UK is no longer an island but one spoke of the european wheel in the global bicycle. Get used to it, we can either compete with the rest of the world or die.
Perhaps the Labour, "the government can pay for us, they got loadsa dosh innit" will save us all.”
3 employs 3,100 direct staff in the UK, not to mention the contract work to Arqiva and National Grid Wireless for transmission upgrades and work.
The fact that they have an offshore call centre is not a big deal really, it helps reduce costs to enable them to compete and offer lower prices.
Why would you need 2G coverage in an area with good 3G coverage anyway? My 3 phone rarely falls back to 2G, I've only every seen it happen a few times.
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