[alanwarwic]

I pay double elsewhere so obviously everything elsewhere has to be the best cos only the stupid pay half of what I pay.

[jabbamk1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gigabit

The fact that you said "I'm not an employee of 3" will tell everybody that you are an employee, you do realise that right?

That looks like a genuine post to me mate.

[jabbamk1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamllew

This is just me wondering so I don't want anyone to assume that I know anything.

Wasn't the original list published when Three were planning nationwide 1800? Now they are planning to roll out nationally on 800 from next year. If so, is it not possible that this list is just going to be places covered by 1800. Perhaps Three have decided that for the towns removed from the list that 800 would be enough to offer coverage which would also roll out next year and so have just done a quick edit job of their list!

Not making any excuses for Three here- just putting out the possibility that (not for the first time) Three may be guilty of poor miscommunication!

I was thinking this as well. Its a weird list as three still say 98% by end of 2015.

So either that list is incomplete or Three aren't planning to roll out much 4G in 2015.

I know that 800 is due to launch soon and be rolled out nationwide. 1800 will get to 80%. And other network related stuff like VoLTE will launch.

[Zee_Bukhari]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard_T

A premium network usually comes with a premium price tag.
With EE you get

2G fallback
good indoor coverage
wider availability of 4G
an ultra fast 4G network
good 3G

what are you talking about? both 3 and EE use the same frequencies for 3G (Three's actually being slightly lower, hence better indoor coverage)

This time next year all networks should be on par with eachother with regards to 4G, while Three and EE will have identical 3G coverage, only difference is i'll still be able to use unlimited data on my handset where as people on EE wont.

[Daveoc64]

Quote:

Originally Posted by d123

Unfortunately I doubt enough people will do so to make Three see the error of their ways.

What errors are those?

Three's 4G coverage in Bristol is better than Vodafone and O2 combined.
I'm paying less than I have ever done to get the services I need
I'm getting 0800 calls for free and I didn't 6 months ago
I saved over £100 when I visited the USA in May through Feel at Home

The new price structure from Three doesn't leave everyone at a disadvantage.

Personally I think it's brilliant that Three has taken the bold move of getting rid of the bonkers concept of "Grandfathering" - if you can't offer something to new customers, you shouldn't be offering it to old customers just to keep them happy.

[d123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daveoc64

What errors are those?

Three's 4G coverage in Bristol is better than Vodafone and O2 combined.
I'm paying less than I have ever done to get the services I need
I'm getting 0800 calls for free and I didn't 6 months ago
I saved over £100 when I visited the USA in May through Feel at Home

The new price structure from Three doesn't leave everyone at a disadvantage.

Personally I think it's brilliant that Three has taken the bold move of getting rid of the bonkers concept of "Grandfathering" - if you can't offer something to new customers, you shouldn't be offering it to old customers just to keep them happy.

I think you are pretty lonely with those thought, universally people are pretty unhappy with Three for unilaterally removing the One Plan (with all old plans to follow according to those in the know), and doubling the line rental for those staying with Three who want a similar allowance.

I haven't seen many people showing happiness and gratitude towards Three for the way they've just chopped 150 places off the 4G roll out (and completely missed their 2014 targets.

Many would describe that as being errors...

[The Sack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Everything Goes

Having spent many years improving its initial low ratings, mostly due to customer service and coverage issues. This year Three have had an amazing fall from grace. Constantly shooting themselves in the foot and pissing off customers.

It all started at the end of 2013 with their 4G rollout. The rollout turned out to be an extended closed test which didn't start properly until 2014. Then came the famous 4G Wish List. As the year progressed became apparent it had become a pipe dream as Three changed their strategy. The rollout has been piecemeal at best even when there was coverage. Then Three decided to cap speeds at 50Mbps. By the end of 2014 Three issued a revised 4G rollout for 2015. Amazingly they removed 193 of the towns / cities they didn't bother with in 2014 (or 194 if you include Hull). They did add 59 new sites including Airports! Lets see how 2015 goes......

Comparison List here:

https://www.diffchecker.com/opybv7j7

Now the Tariffs. Three had started increasing the promotional price of the One Plan. Then they removed The One Plan completely and plans now have a maximum 4GB Tethering limit. Price plans change we all know it. Three were clearly feeling the pinch over excessive data usage and wanted to change it.

The next bit has never happened on any UK network. Three decided to terminate all Grandfather plans. This really is unheard of. People who were outwith their commitment have been and will be moved to another plan. One with a maximum 4GB Tethering limit. Obviously this hasn't gone down well. People may find themselves paying more for less or have to cut back and go on a lower tariff or simply leave! What's more Three have decided to play hardball and offer pretty much no discounts other than perhaps £1 if your lucky.

Three appear to be under some pressure from their parent company Hutchison to improve revenue and cut costs.

While these changes my not impact on everyone Three seem to be on a path to place themselves as a premium network. The thing is if you want a premium network then EE is the place to go.

2015 Will be an interesting year with possible takeovers of EE and O2. So it will likely be an interesting year.

Be careful, i started a thread about my SIM only plan going from £12.90 to £18 and the fanboys went at me like rats on a doughnut.

[jabbamk1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Sack

Be careful, i started a thread about my SIM only plan going from £12.90 to £18 and the fanboys went at me like rats on a doughnut.

But you signed up as a new customer.

So why you were even expecting to price from an old tariff just doesnt make sense. You don't see my complaining about not being able to sign to tow Vodafone tariff from 2004.

[jabbamk1]

What people need to realise is that DS is a very small proportion of mobile users. The members on here are usually tech savy and do research + care s bit more about the services they sign up for.

The average consumer will stay with what they have or switch to a network that is better for their needs based on a very small amount of research.

The average consumer isn't going to start leaving Three in droves based on the past year and Three know it. So whilst a number of changes have occurred that can be viewed negatively from a PR point of view its not going to affect customer numbers heavily and its only going to increase ARPU.

Three are targeting a profit of £360m this year and even with cost reductions of £80m plus it seems like Three will.miss it. Now that Three have over 10m registered customers their plan is to focus on profit and value added services over being "that budget network" that is just after customer numbers.

For the average consumer though, there are a number of good reasons to join Three and so customer numbers will continue to grow. Just much slower than before. Three may even lose some customers as well as we saw in Q1 2014.

[AJ2001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daveoc64

Explain why!

There's no point in a large rant post if you don't actually give any reasoning behind your points.

EE is more expensive than Three in virtually every scenario.

I don't see that ever changing.

Agree - Paying 34 pounds per month on the one plan. Between gaming and podcasts I use circa 8gb per month, The closest plan with EE costs me 38 pounds, Theres the premium. Still I have no option but to leave three because they don t have high end Lumias in their range. So EE it is, from January

[cooler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJ2001

Agree - Paying 34 pounds per month on the one plan. Between gaming and podcasts I use circa 8gb per month, The closest plan with EE costs me 38 pounds, Theres the premium. Still I have no option but to leave three because they don t have high end Lumias in their range. So EE it is, from January

If you want a high end Lumia, why not buy one SIM free then use a three SIM only plan?

[moox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sethpet

Blooming heck they basically chucked away a big chunk of the south and just about all of Hampshire/Wiltshire with a bit of Berkshire thrown in for good measure

Frome
Salisbury
Winchester
Eastleigh
Devizes
Andover
Newbury

Plus all of Cornwall and the bits of Devon that aren't already switched on, whereas EE seem to be actively expanding into Cornwall and the more rural north Devon.

I'm surprised Newbury went, EE has been there for ages and I can't imagine backhaul and whatnot being a huge issue there.

Depending on how quickly EE expand their 4G down here I may be inclined to switch. I don't mind 3's service too much but if I can pay a bit more and get actual 4G coverage I might go for it.

Couldn't care less about gimmicks like free 0800 calls or free roaming (don't travel much) - UK performance is what I care about.

I'm more annoyed about the total lack of communication, broken promises and simultaneous price increase than the fact that I don't have 4G yet. It'd cost them next to nothing to have someone write up a nice explanation of why the list has substantially changed, why each town/county has been removed from the list, the challenges involved in the 4G upgrade etc. But simply revising the list and pretending that they didn't make a promise before is not on.

[maverickjesus]

To be honest, whilst annoying for many, I don't see why 3's 'behaviour' is any different to any other new player in a competitive market. Undercut everyone else with a USP to build customer base, then when you control a big enough proportion of the market, switch to a classic profit driving model. Given that they started at such a huge disadvantage (having no 2G, building their own network from scratch, etc), I think they have actually done a pretty damn good job. Not a suitable network for me, but I'd consider them again if my circumstances change.

[old bill2]

I spent about a hour on the phone this morning to 3s Glasgow office. They are looking at releasing me from my contract. As at the point of sale my home getting 4G this year was a major factor. My town is no longer on the list to get 4G. So I have been mis sold. I pointed them to this thread to show that there are a lot of unhappy 3 customers about.
They seemed stocked that they had upset customers with the change of coverage.

[Old Endeavour]

Quote:

Originally Posted by old bill2

I spent about a hour on the phone this morning to 3s Glasgow office. They are looking at releasing me from my contract. As at the point of sale my home getting 4G this year was a major factor. My town is no longer on the list to get 4G. So I have been mis sold. I pointed them to this thread to show that there are a lot of unhappy 3 customers about.
They seemed stocked that they had upset customers with the change of coverage.

Well done! I have communicated my views on their Facebook page in no uncertain terms, mincing no words.

[AJ2001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cooler

If you want a high end Lumia, why not buy one SIM free then use a three SIM only plan?

Because I not willing to spend 300/400 pounds (plus) upfront, every 2 years on a high end phone. Although having paid more after a 24 month contract, it suits me better.

[jabbamk1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maverickjesus

To be honest, whilst annoying for many, I don't see why 3's 'behaviour' is any different to any other new player in a competitive market. Undercut everyone else with a USP to build customer base, then when you control a big enough proportion of the market, switch to a classic profit driving model. Given that they started at such a huge disadvantage (having no 2G, building their own network from scratch, etc), I think they have actually done a pretty damn good job. Not a suitable network for me, but I'd consider them again if my circumstances change.

The issue being that their customers joined them for a compelling reason, and the other customers didn't join them because they'd heard terrible things such as poor coverage, bad customer service etc...

Now Three have good coverage, excellent customer service and loads of value adds. Now that's all well and good but those were none of the compelling reasons that customers bought into the Three brand originally. Those reasons were price, data and leading edge technology.

Whilst average joe probably won't care. Those that do will now be in a dilemma to stay with the "new" Three or move to a different network. In the grand scheme of things it's not a big issue but I honestly don't know what Three were thinking when they announced the things they were doing this year.

[plymouthbloke1974]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilybealy

Snap I've left and joined EE purely on signal issues

Moved to Vodafone 3 weeks ago. Not giving them the satisfaction....

[jabbamk1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plymouthbloke1974

Moved to Vodafone 3 weeks ago. Not giving them the satisfaction....

Have you seen the new pricing? See if you can move to a higher tariff with the new prices as you said you were going to do before.

Or will that mess with the discount scheme?

[maverickjesus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plymouthbloke1974

Moved to Vodafone 3 weeks ago. Not giving them the satisfaction....

As did I - 3G data coverage isnt a patch on Three but being able to send and receive texts/calls anywhere on 2G/3G900 is a godsend when you live in a solid wall house like I do! Couldn't wait to get rid of InTouch.

[dangetti]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl_Boys

Hopefully EE release a reasonable 20gb sim only plan.

Good luck with that.... EE are cutting back data on SIM only plans to the normal allowances come 1st Feb

Their £27.99 for 10GB SIM only plan will go back to 5GB.

Compare that with the new Vodafone offer giving 20GB for £30 a month or £27.20 for 10GB if you want to save a few £ (but surely best to get an extra 10GB for just £2.80?)

Add to that 3 months unlimited internet, entertainment pack for music/sports/movies and better roaming rates

Plus the price will not go up within your contract period, something EE LOVE to get around whilst also removing existing services for customers

Only thing EE are ahead on is 4G coverage but even that wont last a huge amount of time with Vodafone 4G rolling out quickly now and with the 800mhz band so better indoor coverage.

I was in London a few weeks ago and hit 149.74Mbps using an Alpha on Vodafone!

[jabbamk1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maverickjesus

As did I - 3G data coverage isnt a patch on Three but being able to send and receive texts/calls anywhere on 2G/3G900 is a godsend when you live in a solid wall house like I do! Couldn't wait to get rid of InTouch.

Did you not get a home signal box?

[Silent No More]

Quote:

Originally Posted by d123

Agreed, I have.

Unfortunately I doubt enough people will do so to make Three see the error of their ways.

I voted with my wallet too.

I wasn't a heavy data user or 'tetherer', but the constant failure to deliver 4G and the way they are not grandfathering in existing One Plan customers made me switch the second I tried that EE 100 gig SIM.

I got my PAC code and 2 days later I was an EE customer.

I now get 4G everywhere I go, no voice call drops and no data drops.

Really impressed with EE's network.

[jabbamk1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dangetti

I was in London a few weeks ago and hit 149.74Mbps using an Alpha on Vodafone!

I don't know if I'm more surprised that you got 150Mbps or that someone bought an Alpha.....

Probably the latter

[plymouthbloke1974]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jabbamk1

Have you seen the new pricing? See if you can move to a higher tariff with the new prices as you said you were going to do before.

Or will that mess with the discount scheme?

It'll mess with it. You can only have one discount at a time.