That doesn't really change the fact that Orange and T-Mobile have broadly the same 3G coverage as 3 thanks to the MBNL venture, coupled with seamless 2G backup.

Why go with Vodafone or O2 and be stuck on GPRS when you can go with EE to get the best of both worlds?


All of the networks may or may not have invested, but Vodafone and O2 have to invest far more to get anywhere near EE and 3 (and EE/3 are still investing, so the gap isn't closing anywhere near as quickly).

If you're trying to say that O2 and Vodafone have anywhere near the same 3G coverage as the others, then that's hilarious.

O2 obviously needs to see where the money is going - as their network is still as much of a basketcase as it used to be (two major nationwide failures in a few months? Ridiculous).


It's not a "tired old cliche" when the situation of four years ago still broadly exists today.

You're trying to generalise by saying all of the networks have coverage gaps, and that's true, but for some networks the 3G coverage caps are rather larger than for others.

As for "fanbois", what would you call your own unwavering defence of O2 at all costs?

If you don't like a network then leave.

And then when you find you don't like the next one, move again.

Guys all the networks have issues. Look at the EE facebook page. No positive comments, same with o2 and three. Every network has various not spots/pl@es where they haven't fixed the mast. Its not just vodafone. None of the networks are on the brink of collapse.all the issues are on a small scale

Most of the EE comments on FaceBook are about 4G which barely none of the complainers have tried. Most about price but it was always going to be a premium service. Even Vodafone have stated this.

Three, Voda & O2 are mostly about data outages or no service at all.. much different!

I think you should check again. Most of them are about how signal has got worse since the signal indicator changed from t-mobile / orange to EE

That sounds about right; I've had inconsistent 3G/HSDPA coverage for quite a long time - if they can't get the throughput right with their old backbone, unsure why they think they can support possibly millions of consumers on an even faster network.

I do have one positive since the merger; on my route home there was always a total signal loss at the same point - the merger sorted that out completely.

I've spent the past couple of years going from one network to another, and used to think Vodafone was the best of a bad bunch - blanket 2G coverage and (at the time) reasonable 3G.

Each of the other networks individually (I've tried them all) had failings in one way or another, whether it was dropped calls or lack of 3G coverage. As I travel a lot with work and tether to my phone, having a reliable data connection on train journeys is essential for me. O2 was especially poor in this respect, Vodafone not a lot better, and I ended up having to buy my way out of the contracts early as the way I use data services was just impossible with them owing to their pisspoor 3G coverage. On Orange, on T-Mobile (before the networks combined) and on 3 I had frequent dropped calls as the network coverage of each of those individually was just not secure enough to ensure consistent reception when on the move.

Therefore it became a toss-up - did I go for O2/Vodafone for consistent 2G coverage and poor 3G or did I go for Orange/T-Mobile/Three for much better 3G but a slightly flaky overall experience? It annoyed me that market competition, which should in theory drive standards up, had produced such a 'devil or deep blue sea' situation.

After the EE merger took place I took out a T-Mobile discounted Full Monty tariff in June this year and I have to say its been excellent - a step change from the experiences I had before. I've not had one dropped call in five months and I have 3G service upwards of 95% of the time. The 3G is pretty good in terms of reliability too - its slower when its on the Orange signal, but I'm fairly confident thats going to improve as time goes on, with the Orange masts being absorbed into the MBNL infrastructure.

I'm probably sounding like a bit of an EE fanboy, but in my view its a no-brainer given the state of the UK mobile networks market at present.

Yes because it's that easy

What world do you live in?

The one where we have free will?

It is pretty easy.

1) shop around for a better deal
2) call and give your current provider 30 days notice
3) buy your new phone on new network
4) call your provider and get a PAC code
5) give PAC code to new provider so your number gets moved over.

It's actually not that hard. Yes you'll want to check coverage maps and bits, but it's a pretty simple thing to do.

I've used all 5 networks in my time. As someone else said, if you don't like it, move on. Vodafone was the only one I had to buy my way out of though. Their map was very optimistic, promising coverage that wasn't there at home and work. The final straw was going to Essex for the weekend, and being out of coverage most of the time. It was coverage in town and nowhere else. Currently with O2 whom I like for their reliable 2G (shame about the 3G!), however I'm about to make the jump to EE powered Virgin Mobile as it's half the cost of my current O2 SIM contract. What amounts to 3 3G and Orange 2G is really a winning combination. I'd join 3, but working on the road in the countryside, it's a no go coverage wise.

Sorry but I really struggle to understand how a company can win best network for the last 2 years running, more than that 6 awards for best network in recent past. Yet apparently according to this forum have the worst network this side of the moon

I can only pass on my experience of the network. Being on the road, and having used other networks, it was fairly obvious how bad Vodafone was 2G wise. I wouldn't have spent hundreds buying my way out unless it was bad!

I've been with them for years now and never had any problems.
Their staff are great as well, any issues I had are sorted out ASAP. Their use of Twitter is good as well.

I'm the exact opposite, I've been around the networks but have come back to Vodafone.

I think the fact that you want to put words in my mouth and distort what I say; shows the weakness of your argument.

I am not defending O2, I have been very critical of them. I am also critical of Vodafone , EE and Three .My point is that many people here are stuck in the past; they are stuck with the same tired old simplistic arguments that have been done to death a thousand times on here.

So Three meets your needs. That's great. Can you not see that Vodafone, O2 and EE also meet other people's needs?

There are so many things that could be discussed:

Three making a profit for the first time.
EE re- pricing their 4G handset costs after accidentally making them too cheap.
Which other network also uses a CUDB and therefore could have the same outages as O2?
Networks ' diversifying ' into other areas? ( Why has 3 not joined the other networks joint e- wallet scheme)
How long will it take for O2 to change to HLR?
Could Vodafone's problems elsewhere (eg Australia) spread?
Three have broadly improved their overseas customer service, will other networks follow?
etc
etc

But no, rather than just accept that different networks have different aims, people stick to the same stale arguments.

All networks have a CUDB, however it's the architecture of the network and how good they are at supporting it and what systems are in place when it fails that are the difference. As I understand it O2 opted for a specialised CUDB that was all singing all dancing, and that is what failed, they have now gone back to a simpler system.

Also after the problem was fixed it took many, many hours to recover which O2 said was because the network was under so much load. You have to wonder with the financial hard times whether they have been investing in capacity, so that in the event of an item failing they have capacity to still handle load, or whether they were pushing it right up to the limits and flying by the seat of their pants and that's why it took so many hours for the network to return to normal.

Every network has roughly the same equipment, but the difference is the implementation, capacity and technical staff looking after it. O2 had capacity issues in '09 where they had 6 data outages in 6 months and a near meltdown of the London network which caused them to apologise to the shareholders.

In 2010 they had an outage, then in sept 2011 more issues, in 2012 there were issues in March, then an SMS outage in June, then the big outage in July and then the other one in September.

Even back in July when O2 had the major national outage the BBC news were asking somebody they were interviewing why O2 seemed to be more prone to these issues, I can dig out the clip if you want it? that was of course before the latest one.

As a business user, I have found Vodafone excellent, yes there are times where there are issues but they do make a concerted effort. Only problems I have with them is when requesting a car kit installation, but that goes to a third party and its dire.

Personally I switched from O2 to Vodafone and liked it very much, however when I went to the Olympic games in Greenwich Park the signal was either off or very intermittent. It wasn't until I got more or less home to Leeds I got a signal.

O2 from a business perspective and Orange were and are very poor indeed. But O2 on a personal front I did like tem, but when I wanted and iPhone deal they were more expensive so switched to Vodafone

That's odd because all the networks had the same coverage in the Olympic park and Vodafone I read in mobile news carried more traffic than anyone else.

I know and I only managed to get through to Vodafone once I was nearly home, as I thought at the Olympic Park they had a block on mobiles for security reasons. But that was not the case, customer services did say there was a problem in Greenwich Park Area and for a while I could only use 2G was most annoying

Being an employee for vodafone and also being a customer for a very long time I would like to add my thoughts, as a customer vodafone even before employment have never let me down, sometimes they're over the phone cs staff are a bit rubbish but as are most massive companies! The signal where I live does sometimes drop on 3G but is slowly improving and getting better.

As an employee I would like to advise that if you're signal is dropping and you're having problems pop in to a store and ask to do a network problem escalation, vodafone will then contact you.regarding the problem

I think the people who are happy with the network just get on with it whereas the haters complain and complain and complain

The haters are users who have suffered a major fault at a site they need and waited in vain for it to be fixed.

People wouldn't need to 'Complain Complain Complain' if Vodafone fixed these issues customers have problems with.

What do you think customers should do? Just sit back and pay £30-£50 on line rental for the next 18-24 months when they can no longer use there own mobile..

It's nothing to do with hating Vodafone it's expecting a satisfactory service and been able to use a service we the customers are paying for.

If you have no problems with Vodafone...Then great! But don't come on this forum and slag the customers off for trying to get a problem sorted out.

I'm totally in agreeance with you though, the town where I live although it supposedly offers 3G and my phone reads H I can barely ever use the internet or my phone tbh. Its just coming on here and discussing it will do nothing, do a network escalation in a store or report a fault on there forums the more people from the same area that do it then the more its going to get looked into. Sorry if my previous comment seemed offensive, It wasn't meant that way