Whats 3 like for voice calls these days?

I've used their Mobile Broadband SIMs in my netbook and found that OK in most parts. I'm just coming to an end of my 18 month o2 iPhone 4 contract and was looking at moving to giffgaff, £10 a month will give me more than I need - however that also uses o2 and i've found myself disappointed with their 3G coverage a lot recently.

Obviously 3 is a 3G network, so that part should be better - but do they still roam to o2 2G voice network like they used to if there's no 3G signal present? I think it was o2.

Obviously if that's the case, my voice calls will be at least as good as they are now.

3 use orange as a back up but only in rural areas now. It was turned off in urban areas a while back. Get t-mobile which has the same coverage as 3 but has good 2g back up

They have not used O2 for 2G back for a long long time. It was Orange until recently when they tarted turning section of it off.

I live somewhere fairly rural where their 3G coverage doesn't cover everywhere and the 2G backup is still on.

Give it a try on PAYG for a month and see what you think before committing.

In many places they've now switched off roaming and it's just 3's 3G. I think where there is roaming, it goes onto Orange.

Their 3G coverage can't be beaten and is excellent. Also far faster than the competition, consistently fast for me.

They do have plenty of spots where there is no coverage compared to O2 for example. Have a look at their coverage maps because they do tend to be very accurate. Roaming onto Orange has been switched off in a lot of areas which has now left me with 'no signal' showing where I used to have 2G.

Consider T-Mobile if you want better coverage for voice and SMS, because they have similar 3G coverage to Three (though not quite as extensive).

over the last couple of years thye network has defintily improved, signifficantly.
As for reception, when i have been unable to get a signal with three, there has also been no signal on vodaphone, o2, and orange.

Thanks for the replies. I've found their Mobile Broadband to be very good, just wanted to check on the voice.

I've requested that o2 unlock the phone (which apparently they do within 14 days) so i'll probably try a pay as you go sim cut down in it to check coverage and call quality first.

Will I also get Tethering included on 3? (as o2 charge for it) - and any idea if Visual Voicemail will work ok (apparently it doesn't on giffgaff, you need to use another app) By the way it's the SIM300 i'd be looking at.

O2 is the only UK network that supports Visual Voicemail. The other networks didn't bother investing in the infrastructure needed.

Considering video calling didn't take off in the UK and im guessing its the same sort of tech I can't see visual voice mail being that popular?

Just moved iphone from O2 to 3 - better coverage all round at home and work for me

It's nothing to do with video calling, nothing at all.

Instead of simply getting a message saying "You have voicemail" and then having to dial 1 (or whatever), go through menus, and listen to voicemails in turn without know who they're from beforehand, "visual voicemail" gives you an on screen list - like a missed calls list - showing who left you a voicemail and when, letting you choose which ones to listen to.

O2 have many capacity issues, hence why they limited the sale of iPhone 4s's on launch whereas the others opened it up for everyone. They like Vodafone are bleeding customers currently. They may have VV but it's a feature that Apple do not even advertise anymore and it's not something i'd buy an iPhone for.

All is not great with 3 either as in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and parts of London i have found the coverage is ok but the general speeds and time outs / page errors on website is dire at peak times.

Vodafone & Orange seem to handle peak times better in the areas i have been in recently.

Yep, and after having this and the previous iphone 3g on o2 for 3 years, i'm kind of used to that, but can't justify staying on a £35pm tariff when £10 will give me more than I need with 3 or giffgaff. I heard there's an app that will do similar anyway

If all you are missing is Visual Voicemail then I suggest HulloMail.
I used it on my iPhone when I left O2. To be honest I think it's even better. I'm using it on my SGS2 now.

ooo, ta for that. Signing up and using it on my S2 as well

Yep, that's the one i'd heard about.

OK, waiting for o2 to unlock the phone and i'll try chopping up a 3 PAYG sim and check out the signal, then either go to giffgaff or SIM300 when contract finishes in a few weeks

I have never had a problem with coverage on Three where I live and work. I travel quite a bit too and tether my BlackBerry to my laptop to use the data. Speeds are generally very good (for light surfing and email etc...)

The only time I have had problems is when I have been visiting family in rural Dorset. I got no service at all. In fairness when I searched for networks, only T Mobile and Vodafone did have any coverage, and that was only 2G.

That'll be why BSkyB have just signed a deal with 02 to buy 10,000 mobile accounts for voice, teat and data.

One would think Britain's most succesful satellite broadcaster would know a thing or two about communications so they obviously did their homework and chose 02 on merit as well as price. We all know about the bargain being a bargain if you can't use it thanks to 3's giveaway period.

The only network to warn about capacity issues as far as I know was 3 and their CEO has clearly stated that their bandwidth might not keep up with demand past 2012. Not good news if you are taking out a 24 month contract now.

3 have 2100Mhz spectrum, 02 has 900, 1800 and 2100Mhz spectrum available and the lower frequency band is now being reused for UMTS (3G) which is better in buildings in cities and can cover vastly bigger areas in rural areas with fewer masts.

For years 02 have been the quiet but most successful builders of customers, not only on their own but with big partners like Tesco Mobile. They have 22 million customers in their own right and lots more through MVNO agreements.

What significant MVNO partners have 3 managed to attract? And if they don't have any why not?

What I don't get is the obsession regarding the 3 capacity comment that the CEO made. Three have the fastest network at present and carry far more data than any other carrier. Why given this volume of data are they still the quickest? Have the other networks under invested in backhaul?

3 also have the greatest amount of 3G spectrum but are keen for the 4G auctions to happen - hence the comment made by the CEO. Their cells are smaller (being totally reliant on a 2100MHz network) and have managed to actually cover some rural areas on the frequency. o2 can't even cover major motorways with their lacklustre 3G network.

For the record I live in a 900MHz o2 3G area and yes, the signal is a little stronger in here than on the other networks, but the speed isn't and I have WiFi at home. Unless you never travel and stay in the city o2's 3G coverage really is useless.

I hardly think just because a large UK company is using them that it suggests they are great. Many decisions are based on cost.

I used to work for Shell UK, they bought 3G Handsets as part of deal with O2 (at the time O2's 3G was ridiculously bad) yet the reps sent to each department to assist with switch over (from various networks to O2) said it was the best of all networks. The contract lasted 6m, before each department said it was total crap (coverage/billing/data outages etc) and shell bought out of it and most switched to Voda & Orange...That was several thousand staff members.

It just means they have a good business sales team and are willing to discount. They are still bleeding customers and I think that is the test of how good or bad a network you are.

Not now.

Everything Everywhere has more and Vodafone and 02 have the advantage that they can expand UMTS coverage using 900Mhz which is far more robust than 3's 2100Mhz spectrum.

It's only 3's CEO that has warned about capacity issues so far.

OK, fair point regarding EE even though it is still very much 2 networks at the moment. 3 still have more spectrum per customer, albeit they encourage much higher data use.
o2 may well have 900MHz spectrum but they still have much less coverage than MBNL on 2100MHz spectrum. They need to leave plenty of the 900MHz spectrum free for GSM still as a lot of phones don't support 900MHz UMTS and there isn't much 2100MHz UMTS on o2

Can we have some evidence for the above?

It would be interesting to see some statistical information to back up the claim about the 900Mhz usage.

BTW EE is effecively one network now and it's 2100Mhz bandwidth is bigger than 3's.

For business use o2 isn't a bad choice, I wouldn't have thought. I use to have a SMB with them and they couldn't do enough to help and we managed to get them to give us a renewal offer for something like £12 a month per line for unlimited xnet minutes.

Their 2G network isn't bad at all in general. I'd actually switch to Giffgaff if it wasn't for the totally pathetic 3G coverage, even at 900MHz.