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2G Network Closure
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nigelbb
05-08-2012
Originally Posted by Everything Goes:
“People tend to forget that if they are on Vodafone or O2 the frequency they use on 900Mhz used to be part of their analogue mobile phone service which got switched off in 2001.”

The phone market was very different then. Everyone was on a contract & as I recall Vodafone & BT Cellnet just swapped over all the analogue phones for digital ones.
nigelbb
05-08-2012
Originally Posted by nigelbb:
“They can't possibly turn off 3G when so many people use phones that are 2G only.”

Originally Posted by ba_baracus:
“The same was probably also said about analogue TV. But that's happened.”

Switch off of analogue TV signals was signalled & planned for over ten years. You have not been able to buy an analogue TV for many years whereas you can still buy a 2G phone.

Fully switching from 405 line black & white VHF TV to 625 line UHF analogue TV took over 20 years.
The Lord Lucan
05-08-2012
Until they stop selling 2G phones (yes they still sell them) this will not happen for some years.

Also there are contracts (govt, police/companies) in place for guarantees about 2G coverage specifically O2 & Voda so i cannot see them losing 2G soon.
Everything Goes
05-08-2012
Originally Posted by nigelbb:
“The phone market was very different then. Everyone was on a contract & as I recall Vodafone & BT Cellnet just swapped over all the analogue phones for digital ones.”

Analogue Pay As You Go phones available on Vodafone and Cellnet. Vodafone's Pay As You Go service started in 1996.

http://www.vodafone.ie/aboutus/vfirl/history/
Daveoc64
05-08-2012
Originally Posted by ba_baracus:
“The same was probably also said about analogue TV. But that's happened.”

Yes, but you can buy a £10 set top box that makes any analogue TV (even black and white ones) able to receive all of the digital TV channels.

Such a concept doesn't exist for phones.

People don't pay on a monthly basis to get access to terrestrial TV (the TV licence doesn't guarantee you'll get reception).

People pay to use their phone, so the companies will have to ensure that their customers can get new devices to keep using those services or else they'll lose revenue.
whoever,hey
05-08-2012
Originally Posted by Daveoc64:
“As an aside, the networks in the US are considered to be far more expensive and unreliable than the networks over here.”

Networks in the US dont have any competition.

Thats one thing at least europe and the UK is better for.
Thine Wonk
05-08-2012
Originally Posted by whoever,hey:
“Networks in the US dont have any competition.

Thats one thing at least europe and the UK is better for.”

Not for much longer, the 5 operators will be largely operating just 2 infrastructures soon!
WelshBluebird
05-08-2012
Originally Posted by Daveoc64:
“Yes, but you can buy a £10 set top box that makes any analogue TV (even black and white ones) able to receive all of the digital TV channels.

Such a concept doesn't exist for phones.”

You can get 3G phones for stupidly cheap now.
Indeed the vast majority of phones are 3G phones.
So while you cannot by a cheap box to make your current phone into a 3G one, you can buy a cheap 3G phone to replace your current one.
grumpyoldbat
05-08-2012
Originally Posted by WelshBluebird:
“You can get 3G phones for stupidly cheap now.
Indeed the vast majority of phones are 3G phones.
So while you cannot by a cheap box to make your current phone into a 3G one, you can buy a cheap 3G phone to replace your current one.”

^^This. I'd imagine that the number of 2G phones being sold now is pretty small. If they wanted to do this they can do a couple of things:

1. Stop selling 2G only phones.
2. Replace any 2G phones which are still in contract (or any PAYG 2G phones bought in the last year) with the cheapest 3G handset.

It would cost a bit, but the additional saving from having to maintain 2G and the ability to re-purpose those frequencies would make it worthwhile.

There was a figure several months ago that more 70% of new phones sold in the UK were smartphones. Almost all of those (apart from some low-end BBs) will be 3G.
Daveoc64
05-08-2012
Originally Posted by WelshBluebird:
“You can get 3G phones for stupidly cheap now.
Indeed the vast majority of phones are 3G phones.
So while you cannot by a cheap box to make your current phone into a 3G one, you can buy a cheap 3G phone to replace your current one.”

So what "cheap" 3G phone can you get that is a replacement for an iPhone?

What about accessories? Chargers, cases, car cradle, headsets etc.

The reality is that the costs are simply too high for the networks to risk the revenue loss of dumping these customers.

Anything that rocks the cradle is bad for business.

The latest stats put it at something like 45% 2G handsets, 55% 3G handsets in the UK.

I think that the fact the networks would rather sell a cheap 2G handset than lose a customer speaks volumes about how they see the issue.
legends wear 7
05-08-2012
just had a quick look through the phones available direct from Vodafone and O2, not sure any of them are 2G only phones.

when revenue growth is all in dta i cant see networks ranging handsets that dont use data
WelshBluebird
05-08-2012
Originally Posted by Daveoc64:
“So what "cheap" 3G phone can you get that is a replacement for an iPhone?

What about accessories? Chargers, cases, car cradle, headsets etc.

The reality is that the costs are simply too high for the networks to risk the revenue loss of dumping these customers.

Anything that rocks the cradle is bad for business.

The latest stats put it at something like 45% 2G handsets, 55% 3G handsets in the UK.

I think that the fact the networks would rather sell a cheap 2G handset than lose a customer speaks volumes about how they see the issue.”

And how many original iPhones do you really think are out there? I bet the answer is not many at all.
Most 2G phones out there will either be very old phones that can be replaced with similar functionality by a cheap 3G phone, or will be newer cheap 2G phones that can be replaced by a similar cheap 3G phone.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you that they won't turn off 2G for ages because of what you say (anything that "changes" things is often seen as bad). But we would all be better off if they did.

Also, I wonder what is the point of selling new 2G handsets at this point? Ignoring the coverage issues, as that would be pretty much be solved in the blink of an eye if the networks could use 2G frequencies for 3G.
jabbamk1
05-08-2012
2G will still be around for a while. They're still selling on contract with most networks and many people still use 2G phones. Pretty sure that 40% statistic is correct.
The Lord Lucan
06-08-2012
Yeah i've also heard the 40% stat is about right.
jjesso123
06-08-2012
Originally Posted by monkeysoap:
“Oh, boohoo, do stop your whinging! It's not like switching off 2G will cure cancer or bring world peace! ”

Very coincidental that someone who was banned from this forum said the exact same thing to me not long ago on the topic mobile phones.

As said the last person or possibly you before we are not discussing somthing that could cure cancer or world peace, It has nothing to do with the subject in question.

I was simply asking a question, and I was perfectly entitled to do.


Originally Posted by Daveoc64:
“In the US, they have regional networks.

While AT&T is a national network, it doesn't have a licence in every state, so it doesn't have as big a network as you'd expect.

AT&T also happens to have a terrible reputation for coverage and customer service.

As an aside, the networks in the US are considered to be far more expensive and unreliable than the networks over here.”

Than you for actually answering.
interactiv-uk
07-08-2012
Originally Posted by Everything Goes:
“Analogue Pay As You Go phones available on Vodafone and Cellnet. Vodafone's Pay As You Go service started in 1996.

http://www.vodafone.ie/aboutus/vfirl/history/”


Only Vodafone sold Analogue (TACS) Pay as you go phones. The first pre-pay offering from Cellnet was Easylife - This was a GSM service using the Phillips Diga handset.. 49ppm with a £10 top up needed every 12 months to keep the line active!
neil79
08-08-2012
Turn off 2G and what would people do in certain rural places where there is patchy 2g and no 3g on any network ?
Some of you obviously don't get out of town much

Where I live there is no reception whatsoever on the 3 network
(town ) but 3g on O2, and Vodafone.
niceguy1966
08-08-2012
Originally Posted by neil79:
“Turn off 2G and what would people do in certain rural places where there is patchy 2g and no 3g on any network ?
Some of you obviously don't get out of town much

Where I live there is no reception whatsoever on the 3 network
(town ) but 3g on O2, and Vodafone.”

Why not read the previous messages in this thread, and you'll know the answer.
WelshBluebird
08-08-2012
Originally Posted by neil79:
“Turn off 2G and what would people do in certain rural places where there is patchy 2g and no 3g on any network ?
Some of you obviously don't get out of town much

Where I live there is no reception whatsoever on the 3 network
(town ) but 3g on O2, and Vodafone.”

Read the thread.
Turning off 2G networks would allow the same frequencies to be used for 3G (and 4G) networks. Allowing the same coverage as 2G networks currently give, but obviously faster data speeds.
alanwarwic
08-08-2012
The number of 2g phones sold is still massive.
Not everyone needs or wants 3G internet.
They might even prefer their 14 days+ 2g standby.

I would also say a very large number set their 3G phone to 2G for normal use.
These can easily get 7 days ++++ standby too.
davethorp
08-08-2012
Originally Posted by WelshBluebird:
“Read the thread.
Turning off 2G networks would allow the same frequencies to be used for 3G (and 4G) networks. Allowing the same coverage as 2G networks currently give, but obviously faster data speeds.”

Not every 3G phone will be able to utilise those frequencies though
neo_wales
08-08-2012
Big chunks of Wales are minus 3g but fine on 2g, lets hope they sort things out before any 2g turnoff.
legends wear 7
08-08-2012
Looking on the networks online stores i cannot see a single 2G only handset being sold on Contract.

On vodafone i'm fairly certain the PAYG range is also all 3G capable.
jabbamk1
08-08-2012
Third parties like Phones 4 U and carphone warehouse, asda, tesco still sell 2G phones on contract like the Samsung chat etc...

Vodafone sell the Blackberry 8520, Samsung C3350 etc...
(Infact vodafone are heavily advertising the curve 8520 on a 2 year contract for £10.50pm right now)
Orange sell the Samsung Solid and the Doro phone and few others.
T-Mobile sell a couple
O2 have stopped now i think but lilke every network they still sell a large number of PAYG phones that are 2G only.

Last year there were many more phones that were 2G only from the main networks on contract. Now it is mainly third parties like i mentioned above. The number of times i've seen the Samsung chat advertised on contract by P4U and others is ridiculous. I know one of my mates who's got one on contract for at least another year.

So 2G phones are still popular in the uk and tbh not many people know the difference between 2G and 3G. Some of my friends think that only Three sell 3G phones or that Three is 3G....

@Legends, I've seen at least 10 2G phones on vodafones website
Daveoc64
10-08-2012
Originally Posted by legends wear 7:
“Looking on the networks online stores i cannot see a single 2G only handset being sold on Contract.”

Did you actually look!?

I found some on Orange by not choosing the "3G" filter on the product listing.

At a quick glance, Orange sells some of the same 2G phones on Pay Monthly that O2 sells on PAYG.
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