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Three phases out "The One Plan" and Unlimited tethering


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Old 10-07-2016, 22:56
jonmorris
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You do wonder why Three don't focus on the people using over 100GB a month first instead of the random approach they seem to be taking.
I don't think it's really about data usage. I think even Three's limited spectrum can just about cope. It was about ARPU. People on £12.90 or £15 plans are just not worth having when you have an owner that wants Three to start paying its way, and to be ready to effectively take over O2 (which of course isn't now happening).

It couldn't jack up the price of a plan by £15 a month, so it just axed the old plan - with the obvious outrage that followed. It was still a problem of Three's making. Selling the One Plan too cheap (as I and others said throughout the time we had it) and really going to town on data, despite then slowing down the 4G rollout and even missing many targets.

Now that the distraction with O2 is hopefully over, maybe Three can get back to building its network, bid for some new spectrum, improve the 800 rollout, get VoLTE working on more devices (and also for 4G 1800) and get back to being the network I had very little to complain about two years ago.

It has lost its way. It has also lost of important staff, which is perhaps part of the problem. At the end of the day, there's always internal politics and it seems that Three perhaps needs a new sense of direction.
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Old 10-07-2016, 22:59
Thine Wonk
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Point me to an ad then that shows Three advertised it as home broadband replacement. The internet archive exists, come on....

Aside from some blog comments by the social network team who were attempting to differentiate it from the fake unlimited plans there was no campaign or encouragement to use it for home broadband.

We agree it was a mistake anyway, I'm glad they've ended it as performance has improved as I don't think it was fair for such a minority to be able to use 90% of the capacity. What we have now with 30GB is a nice happy medium and pricing is still at the low end of the market.

We need to be talking about the future and not harping back to the past all the time, that's why I gave this forum a 3 month break as it's was the same post above on repeat and we just ended up going around in circles.
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Old 10-07-2016, 23:12
david16
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We saw the Powerpoint that were posted online Jon, a small minority using the majority of data, then on the following slides saying how they were going to control data use though pricing and other measures. Not once was it ever marketed as a home broadband replacement, at the very start there was a push to demonstrate it really was unlimited because it was common for other networks to call 2GB unlimited and Three wanted to differentiate. There was a couple of blogs / register articles and that's it, mostly to demonstrate it wasn't like the 'fake' unlimited plans.

Anyway, we need to get over the past and deal with the current and future. What plans would that poster who was using 120GB a month be able to get for £15 on EE, O2 or Vodafone? What is the cost of £120GB of data on those networks?

I notice the EE 100GB trial sims which were really just to get people hooked have gone now it's BT. He is looking at 100s of pounds a month.
2GB of data is not unlimited data.

But with a three AYCE sim only sim with AYCE tethering there was no contest going on to see who was using the most "extreme" amount of data each month, or to see who was the first to use 1TB of data if it was even possible to do so.

I highly doubt anybody ever tried to consume 1TB of data in a month. I highly doubt it was even possible to get anywhere near to consuming even 0.5TB in a month let alone 1TB. Anybody who may have said "I'll try" in terms of consuming 1TB of data on this forum will just have been pulling people's legs.
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Old 10-07-2016, 23:13
jonmorris
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Point me to an ad then that shows Three advertised it as home broadband replacement. The internet archive exists, come on....
Have you really got to the 'pics or it didn't happen' moment now? Come on, I thought a bit more of you than resorting to such tactics.

Of course Three never took out an advert showing it working as a home broadband service. It DID promote mobile broadband for home usage, and we all know they have done home routers, just as EE does (at some cost).

If social media teams are saying you can, and really going to town on saying there's really no limitation or restriction, and shop staff tell customers to land a sale, then I'm sorry but that's as good as taking out a full page ad in a newspaper saying you can.

Now if nobody was supposed to say that then why the hell wasn't management all over them and stopping such practices? Don't they mystery shop or check what's being said on Facebook and Twitter?!

They did create a fair use policy of 1000GB, which also makes a mockery of things as 100GB is hardly abuse if they allow ten times that amount.

Again, WHY create such a ridiculously high limit for tethering? We can all accept that on a handset, most people can't use that much data in any given month.. but once you allow tethering you're effectively screwed. TrafficSense was a haphazard way of trying to cope, but surely Three could have done more.

Still, Three is today still telling people on Twitter it doesn't restrict data abroad. It has even recently started suggesting that because it only offers 3G roaming that THAT'S the reason speeds are slower than rival networks, ignoring the fact that a 3G speed test will still be good - but other data crippled.

And then you have management admitting it throttles at a b2b press briefing, and trying to explain why, admitting it maybe misjudged things and will consider a paid-for unthrottled service in the future. Chances are it will also introduce 4G roaming at some point, and of course expand free roaming to more than just the current Feel at Home destinations.

This is another example of mixed signals, and I would love to know why it does this because there are still a good bunch of people working there who must be far more frustrated than I am as their livelihood relies on the success of the network. My commitment is limited to a £20 'investment' a month.
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Old 10-07-2016, 23:21
Thine Wonk
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The home broadband routers were never on the One Plan, they were capped, the social media and blog teams where differentiating between unlimited and fake 2GB unlimited. It worked for them for 4 years, but even if we agree it was a mistake it has now come to an end, and I think for the greater good. Now we don't have people using 100GB+ and that frees up capacity for the 90% of typical phone users who also use a reasonable amount of hotspot.

We never worked out how much 120GB a month would cost on O2 or Vodafone. We had an answer of £90 a month for EE.

EDIT O2 £125 a month.
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Old 10-07-2016, 23:55
jonmorris
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EE has done 25GB for £15 recently, and 50GB for £26 a month I seem to recall reading on another thread here (not an offer on the website, but one offered via retentions) so you could get 100GB for a little over £50 if you're lucky or know who to speak to.

Vodafone also has plans that aren't widely advertised, including add-on allowances you can apparently haggle over.

I never said the routers were on the One Plan. They were for mobile broadband plans, and obviously capped to whatever amount of data you purchased. AYCE data has never existed on these at all. While it hasn't really continued to promote home broadband solutions here, it certainly has abroad. Many foreign Three networks have had 4G roaming for some time, and I believe that Three Ireland doesn't throttle data when roaming either.
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Old 11-07-2016, 11:00
nigelbb
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Point me to an ad then that shows Three advertised it as home broadband replacement. The internet archive exists, come on....

Aside from some blog comments by the social network team who were attempting to differentiate it from the fake unlimited plans there was no campaign or encouragement to use it for home broadband..
The Three blog is marketing just as much as posters in the Three shop window. I recall a guest blog they posted where the guy was boasting how many hundreds of GB he had used in a month after he had been challenged to use as much as he could. This was all officially sanctioned & encouraged by Three & published on their official blog not just some random user on Digital Spy boasting how much data they used.
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Old 11-07-2016, 11:23
jonmorris
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Three has boasted about how much data its users have consumed for years.

It was all part of a campaign to be seen as the network for data (and for years it has been the undisputed number one, with only T-Mobile coming close) and that obviously worked.
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Old 11-07-2016, 13:47
d123
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Déjà vu...

This argument has been had with him on multiple times in the past, it's a waste of time.

Mr Three will never ever admit that Three ever contemplated the one plan as anything but a sub 100GB plan and anyone who used more was an abuser.
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Old 11-07-2016, 16:17
jaffboy151
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Déjà vu...

This argument has been had with him on multiple times in the past, it's a waste of time.
Very true, in fact I thought I'd accidently clicked on an earlier page in the thread which took me 2 years back,
Vote with your feet, I did, three have turned into a joke of a network coverage and PR wise, sadly turning into the network everyone used to say they were years ago, bold statements with little substance to them.
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Old 11-07-2016, 22:27
Richard_T
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Ultimatly the whole one plan and people using huge amounts of data debacle is down to one thing: Threes piss poor incompetent management.
In laaunchi8ng it they should have realised that high use was a risk, and they should have taken steps to control it with throttling/fair use policys etc etc.
And then theres the fiasco of how to lock the door once the horse has bolted, instead of reducing tethering limits on the one plan, they decide to consult the purple puppet and in some cases double peoples prices
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Old 11-07-2016, 23:13
jonmorris
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As I said, I suspect the real reason Three has done most of what it has done (and is doing) is because it needs to make more money. The heavy data 'abuse' is probably a red herring. If Three mentions abuse, it can get sympathy - but if that really was the case, all users consuming huge amounts of data would have had their letters first.

Three does have a higher data usage per person than other networks, but it's not so ridiculously high as to be a massive problem.

It can no longer be the small network sticking it to the man. It has to become the man. Nobody getting so many minutes/texts/data can be paying £13-£15 a month. Look around and you'll see much higher monthly charges for a lot less data, although there can be the occasional promotion to bump up numbers if it looks like the numbers will be poor for the next quarter.
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Old 30-08-2016, 19:54
Steve™
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I'm still able to tether unlimited....anyone else experiencing this? Last month I Tethered around 60gb - I was working away and it was considerably faster than the hotel wifi (6mbps vs 30mbps)
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Old 30-08-2016, 20:30
rasseru16
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I'm still able to tether unlimited....anyone else experiencing this? Last month I Tethered around 60gb - I was working away and it was considerably faster than the hotel wifi (6mbps vs 30mbps)
Same! So much for the 30GB personal hotspot "cap", 3's data systems not working properly? Oh dear
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Old 30-08-2016, 20:56
Thine Wonk
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Let's hope they don't start charging for it, what would 30GB of out of bundle data charges be? The price of a new car? LOL
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Old 30-08-2016, 21:54
rasseru16
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Let's hope they don't start charging for it, what would 30GB of out of bundle data charges be? The price of a new car? LOL
Just aswell Three offer usage price caps that do work
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Old 01-09-2016, 23:49
cooler
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I'm still able to tether unlimited....anyone else experiencing this? Last month I Tethered around 60gb - I was working away and it was considerably faster than the hotel wifi (6mbps vs 30mbps)
Which plan are you on?
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Old 11-09-2016, 11:40
Arr_Vee
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If anyone has left Three and wants to rejoin, then the unlimited texts, calls and data sim (currently at £33 a month, on a 12 month contract, payable by DD) is available for an effective cost of £23 a month:

http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk/sim-only/

Note, the £120 a month cashback is by multiple redemptions.

If you can't be bothered to do this, you can get an automatic cashback of £30, bringing the effective line rental to £30.50 a month.

http://www.buymobiles.net/sim-only offer £45 automatic cashback - effective charge £29.25 a month.

If you want to go even one step further, you can get an extra £25 (buymobiles.net) or £10 (mobilephonesdirect) off via http://www.quidco.com/

Enjoy!
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Old 07-12-2016, 16:11
JBX101
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Well, I've decided to take the plunge and I've left Three; but only because I would be moving house soon and there is a black spot -- a lot of black spots in the area; I can't get their 4G Super Voice and not really be wanting to get another Home Signal Booster to be honest.

I'm switching to Vodafone for next 12 months and go from there; hopefully within next year, 3UK has more signal masts; and other competitors offer more data (to near unlimited). I have taken Vodafone's £22.20 pm offer - Unlimited mins/texts, 20GB data; unlimited EU roaming mins/texts, 4GB EU roaming data.

While I will miss being able to use my 12GB roaming data in likes of Ireland, US, Hong Kong, etc; I still have 3UK's 40GB Mobile Broadband contract, which I don't plan to change yet.

Calling up 3UK to get PAC, discussion had sounded like a break up to an outsider --

"Don't leave!"
"I have to, it's for the best."
"Please, reconsider."
"I don't want to leave but I will be moving soon, there's no signal there; it's just not working out for both you and me."
"What if we offer you a cheaper contract?"
"It's not working out, please, I don't want to leave and if signal is there; I may return one day; some day but for now, let me go and give me the PAC"

This conversation suffices to say, lasted for 45 minutes, lol.
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Old 07-12-2016, 20:49
samuel79
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Well,

Calling up 3UK to get PAC, discussion had sounded like a break up to an outsider --

"Don't leave!"
"I have to, it's for the best."
"Please, reconsider."
"I don't want to leave but I will be moving soon, there's no signal there; it's just not working out for both you and me."
"What if we offer you a cheaper contract?"
"It's not working out, please, I don't want to leave and if signal is there; I may return one day; some day but for now, let me go and give me the PAC"

This conversation suffices to say, lasted for 45 minutes, lol.







I did the same last month and it was the same they are desperate to keep people from a numbers side of thing but would not offer any deals but that was irreverent t to me as im going with BT due to having my home broadband with them

but my main reason was the bt wifi hot spots when not at home as three wont ever have this as a plan option

there relentless pleas of them being the best network and only network to offer unlimited handset data to point is true but for me there network congestion in my area was the key
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Old 08-12-2016, 13:55
natbike
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[/u]




I did the same last month and it was the same they are desperate to keep people from a numbers side of thing but would not offer any deals but that was irreverent t to me as im going with BT due to having my home broadband with them

but my main reason was the bt wifi hot spots when not at home as three wont ever have this as a plan option

there relentless pleas of them being the best network and only network to offer unlimited handset data to point is true but for me there network congestion in my area was the key
I get the hotspots just by having BB with BT. Why do you need your phone with them too?
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Old 09-12-2016, 16:28
samuel79
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I get the hotspots just by having BB with BT. Why do you need your phone with them too?
as bt is my broadband provider and its about to hit its 12 month term I simply dont want to pay what will be double so I plan to leave and get a better deal elsewher

OR I will try the openzone at my house as the neighbor as BT hub and see how it goes as i may use it as my main and thus saves me paying two bills as i am not a heavy user
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Old 16-12-2016, 23:55
david16
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Three are my broadband providers now.
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Old 20-12-2016, 11:46
Jack_Wilson2
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Three are my broadband providers now.
I hope to god you don't mean your hammering the network and effecting others.
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Old 20-12-2016, 12:02
ash45
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I hope to god you don't mean your hammering the network and effecting others.
Because you dont want the competition?
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