Very interesting thread, however it seems to have turned into a "who will have the highest average speeds" type discussion. The way I read the OP's message was more to do with coverage than speeds.
I don't really subscribe to the "cell spacing" argument put forwards in favour of EE. I tend to operate inside the M25 and spend a fair amount of time in London specifically. There is no doubt in my mind that EE is not as good at providing in building coverage as o2 and Vodafone in this area. What's the use of fast 4G outside if I'm stuck with no service of any description inside. Just off the top of my head some locations all in central London where in the past month I've not had any service at all on EE: The Comedy Store (Picadilly Circus), Foxlows Restaurant (Clerkenwell ) and a friends house opposite Portobello Market. Vodafone and o2 had strong signal, with fast working 3G data in all of these locations (I don't have 4G enabled contracts to test whether they had 4G as well).
If EE don't have coverage in these buildings now I can't see what will suddenly change. The only thing that will realistically bring coverage is 800Mhz but are EE even planning to roll this out in London? It doesn't appear to be their strategy from what I've read.
I think there are different groups of people: I firmly belong in the "I just want it to bloody work" group I don't care if I'm "only" getting 5Mbps on LTE, I can still do everything I need. In that respect, looking at what Vodafone have to offer in the terms of overall spectrum (900Mhz + 2100Mhz 3G, 800Mhz LTE + 2600Mhz LTE) I think they are going to be the winners in terms of coverage, particularly indoors...
...at least for inside the M25! But that's all I care about
I don't really subscribe to the "cell spacing" argument put forwards in favour of EE. I tend to operate inside the M25 and spend a fair amount of time in London specifically. There is no doubt in my mind that EE is not as good at providing in building coverage as o2 and Vodafone in this area. What's the use of fast 4G outside if I'm stuck with no service of any description inside. Just off the top of my head some locations all in central London where in the past month I've not had any service at all on EE: The Comedy Store (Picadilly Circus), Foxlows Restaurant (Clerkenwell ) and a friends house opposite Portobello Market. Vodafone and o2 had strong signal, with fast working 3G data in all of these locations (I don't have 4G enabled contracts to test whether they had 4G as well).
If EE don't have coverage in these buildings now I can't see what will suddenly change. The only thing that will realistically bring coverage is 800Mhz but are EE even planning to roll this out in London? It doesn't appear to be their strategy from what I've read.
I think there are different groups of people: I firmly belong in the "I just want it to bloody work" group I don't care if I'm "only" getting 5Mbps on LTE, I can still do everything I need. In that respect, looking at what Vodafone have to offer in the terms of overall spectrum (900Mhz + 2100Mhz 3G, 800Mhz LTE + 2600Mhz LTE) I think they are going to be the winners in terms of coverage, particularly indoors...
...at least for inside the M25! But that's all I care about



