Thanks for your help, looks like it's game over for 3 at the first hurdle...

Got a text from o2 that they'd unlocked the handset today (3 days!) put a chopped down 3 sim in at home.

Normally at home I get 1-3 bars 2G on o2 (Edge data, no 3G at all)

On 3 I get 1 bar or no signal of 3G - so while it's an improvement in data, not having 2G to fall back on for calls and texts makes it unsuitable for a phone. And it's important that I don't miss calls while at home.

Looks like it'll be giffgaff then, effectively the same signal as I get with o2 but much cheaper.

Why are o2 so uncompetitive? I pay £35pm and can get better for £10pm - and to make it worse apparently when renewing contracts with them you no longer get any data - have to pay £6pm for a data bolt-on!

Because a lot of people will pay it? They let their MVNO's, or competitors, take the low margain customers. Looks like Giffgaff will indeed be the best bet for you - unless there's something on T-Mobile? Very similar (almost identical due to MBNL) 3G coverage as 3, but with the advantage of T-Mobile and Orange 2G.

One thing to bear in mind with T-Mobile is their less than transparent approach to data throttling.

My company is the same, around 120,000 staff but with 5 times the amount of field based staff of yours. All of whom have a mobile and a 3G SIM in their laptop. Vodafone also, the 2G backup is a must.

Having examined the coverage maps posted today by Ofcom I think it's more than sensible for any business to choose a network that has both GSM and UMTS (2G + 3G) coverage across the UK.

Ofcom has at a glance coverage maps for 2G and 3G services by both geographic and premises.

I was shocked at just how small a footprint 3G has geographically (after 8 years) and by premises it looks sparse compared with 2G. The high coverage figures the networks provide can be justified because most of the population lives in high density populated areas but if you have a big workfoce that needs the widest mobile phone availabilty it would be foolish to rely on just one technology after comparing the coverage maps on the Ofcom site.

Check out the new Ofcom Maps here: http://maps.ofcom.org.uk/mobile/index.html

From the Ofcom Report: "For mobile networks, the data show that over 97% of premises should have a strong enough mobile signal from all four 2G network operators to make a call when outside (73% for the five 3G networks). While coverage of premises is high, overall geographic coverage by all four 2G operators is 66% (just 13% for 3G). Coverage in
rural areas tends to be worse than in urban areas, but our analysis indicates that operators are often deploying more infrastructure per capita to serve rural users – highlighting the challenges of extending network coverage."

http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/2011/1...out-across-uk/