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N. Ireland regional mobile thread |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: The wilds of West Tyrone
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N. Ireland regional mobile thread
I generally tend to be an occasional poster dipping in and out, but earlier this year I did suggest a local Northern Irish thread for the mobile forum to cover issues on a local level. I don't see any (apologies if it has), so here goes...
With the Ofcom Communications Market Report 2015 being released, one area worth checking out is the operator market share. For a number of years O2 has been dominant in Northern Ireland, recording a 65% share in 2014, so what's changed... 2014 Figures Code:
Network (% share across NI - NI Urban share/NI Rural Share) O2 (65 - 62/69) Vodafone (12 - 13/11) EE (3 - 3/3) Orange (8 - 9/8) T-Mobile (1 - 2/1) 3 (4 - 5/3) Tesco (3 - 3/3) Virgin (1 - 1/0) Other (1 - 1/0) Unsure (1 - 1/1) EE Total (12 - 14/12) Code:
Network (% share across NI - NI Urban share/NI Rural Share) O2 (61 - 60/62) Vodafone (11 - 9/15) EE (7 - 6/7) Orange (3 - 3/2) T-Mobile (2 - 0/5) 3 (7 - 10-4) Tesco (4 - 4/5) Virgin (1 - 1/0) Other (3 - 6/0) Unsure (1 - 1/0) EE Total (12 - 9/14) * Vodafone's share has gone down slightly by an apparent exodus of urban users however they have picked up more rural subscribers. * 3 have recorded a significant growth share in urban locations, rising from 5% to 10% with a very modest increase in rural locations. If you don't treat EE, Orange & T-Mobile as one network, then they are the second place network in urban areas. Not bad considering that they still don't have any 4G coverage here, not even the centre of Belfast! * EE's total share across its three brands remains static however like Vodafone they have lost share in urban areas but gained in rural locations. One major anomaly is how on earth have T-Mobile risen in rural locations from a 1% share to 5%? Answers on a postcard. * Tesco mobile have increased their share modestly with an increase in rural areas. Possibly ex-O2 customers switching while maintaining coverage? * Virgin continue to have no effective presence in NI. * Interestingly for "others" there is little significance in rural areas but it has notably grown in urban areas. Maybe the likes of giffgaff and so on? The main winners over the past year seem to be 3 - again I just can't understand how T-Mobile have made a significant increase in rural areas when the brand is being phased out and never has been popular in NI. O2 remains rather static in urban areas, but have taken a 7 point cut in rural areas. But they're back to roughly the same levels that they were in 2013 in general. I'll look at things like population coverage shortly. Last edited by Redcoat : 27-08-2015 at 23:32. Reason: Making figures more readable. Hopefully! |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: The wilds of West Tyrone
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The 2015 Ofcom CMR for NI reported for the first time that prepay customers no longer make up the largest group of mobile users here, with those taking out a contract with an inclusive handset now the most common group. Interestingly the share of people taking out a sim-only contract fell quite significantly.
Code:
Use type 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 PAYG 68 64 65 60 49 48 43 Contract w/phone 27 29 29 35 40 40 51 Contract Sim Only 03 03 05 05 11 10 04 Contract Unsure 01 02 00 >1 00 00 02 Unsure 00 02 00 00 00 02 00 |
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#3 |
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Coverage of 2G, 3G & 4G services across NI...
There's been no real change between 2014 & 2015 in terms of 2G coverage. 98.9% of premises in Northern Ireland can receive at least one 2G network based on outdoor coverage, leaving 1.1% in a mobile "not-spot". 91.7% can receive all three 2G networks. Code:
2G Coverage 2014 & 2015 One 1.5 Two 5.8 Three 91.7 Total 98.9 There has also been an increase in the number of networks in some places with all four operators available from 63.3% in 2014 to 73.0% in 2015. This is better than Wales (67%) but worse than Scotland (78.9%). Code:
3G Coverage 2014 2015 One 2.2 1.5 Two 9.0 7.3 Three 24.0 16.8 Four 63.3 73.0 Total 97.8 98.6 In 2014 79.2% of premises in NI were covered with an outdoor level 4G signal from at least one operator; that was higher than the UK average (71.8%) and even England with 74.9%. In 2015 91.1% of premises in NI are now covered, still above the UK average at 89.5%, now just behind England (92.1%) but still better than Scotland (79.7%) & Wales (62.8%). Code:
4G Coverage 2014 2015 One 79.2 40.6 Two 0.0 5.5 Three 0.0 45.0 Four 0.0 0.0 Total 79.2 91.1 There of course is still room for improvement, but the different population geography in Northern Ireland compared to Britain mainly in having a significantly larger rural population as a percentage of its total (35% compared to a UK average of 12%), the costs of serving more of the population with better 3G & 4G coverage, let alone 2G, is subject to diminishing returns - notably in places where outdoor coverage is deemed adequate but where indoor coverage can be found wanting. |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Jan 2015
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Ok, I'm not sure if I'm reading those right but why is O2 so far ahead in NI?
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#5 |
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I think it and its predecessor Cellnet have traditionally been the strongest operator there in terms of coverage.
Most people don't have the interest or inclination to change network as often as us lot on here - some never do - and that's probably the case in NI. Even though e.g. EE might be better there in terms of 4G coverage, most wouldn't care that much, or they'd see the PAC process, or whatever, as a faff, and stick with what they know. |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Apr 2013
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Quote:
The main winners over the past year seem to be 3 - again I just can't understand how T-Mobile have made a significant increase in rural areas when the brand is being phased out and never has been popular in NI. O2 remains rather static in urban areas, but have taken a 7 point cut in rural areas. But they're back to roughly the same levels that they were in 2013 in general. No doubt the survey has been properly conducted and the results weighted accordingly so the UK wide results will be pretty good with small margins of error. However once you start looking at the breaks you need to apply pretty large margins to the results so what you interpret as a movement one way, unless it's really large could, in reality, be a move in the opposite direction or no change at all. Not only that but the weighting is usually done so that the UK wide total is demographically correct but this won't necessarily apply to individual breaks. Anyway, the data for 2015 is here where you can see the raw numbers (table 30 seems to contain most of it). http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/bin...ta_Tables1.pdf |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Northern Ireland
Posts: 303
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Thanks so much Redcoat, it's great to have a N.Ireland thread!
Really interesting to read all of that, thank you. |
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#8 |
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Join Date: Dec 2014
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O2 has the best coverage here in terms of 2G at least, you will get signal virtually everywhere hence why its so popular. The problem with this popularity is their data network is crippled, using H+ at work reminds me of the old days of using EDGE, things sitting spinning or timing out, A speed test of with results 0.1mb says it all. If you are lucky enough to come across a 4G signal don't get to excited, its still slower than EE 3G.
Recently front page on our local newspaper we had a headline about disruption planned due to O2 4G signal upgrade, now we've had EE 4G here for more than a year and this wasn't in the local paper. I use both O2 and EE, EE is the superior network if you can get a signal, All towns and some rural areas are covered and I have a 4G Speed of 30mb+. But I was recently in Fermanagh and for large areas I had no signal, this is why most people stay with O2 |
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#9 |
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Join Date: Jun 2001
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Quote:
Redcoat, your instincts are probably right. Where I think you are going wrong is in the way you are interpreting the significance of movements. These are not actual figures from the networks but are based on a UK wide survey and like any survey, it needs to be read with appropriate margins of error in mind.
No doubt the survey has been properly conducted and the results weighted accordingly so the UK wide results will be pretty good with small margins of error. However once you start looking at the breaks you need to apply pretty large margins to the results so what you interpret as a movement one way, unless it's really large could, in reality, be a move in the opposite direction or no change at all. Not only that but the weighting is usually done so that the UK wide total is demographically correct but this won't necessarily apply to individual breaks. Anyway, the data for 2015 is here where you can see the raw numbers (table 30 seems to contain most of it). http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/bin...ta_Tables1.pdf |
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#10 |
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Join Date: Jun 2001
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Quote:
O2 has the best coverage here in terms of 2G at least, you will get signal virtually everywhere hence why its so popular. The problem with this popularity is their data network is crippled, using H+ at work reminds me of the old days of using EDGE, things sitting spinning or timing out, A speed test of with results 0.1mb says it all. If you are lucky enough to come across a 4G signal don't get to excited, its still slower than EE 3G.
Quote:
Recently front page on our local newspaper we had a headline about disruption planned due to O2 4G signal upgrade, now we've had EE 4G here for more than a year and this wasn't in the local paper.
Quote:
I use both O2 and EE, EE is the superior network if you can get a signal, All towns and some rural areas are covered and I have a 4G Speed of 30mb+. But I was recently in Fermanagh and for large areas I had no signal, this is why most people stay with O2
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#11 |
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Time to crunch numbers from the 2016 Ofcom regional report. First off, the share of the mobile market in NI...
Code:
(NI Total - NI Urban/NI Rural) Network 2016 share Change from 2015 O2 (60 - 58/62) (-1 -2/0) Vodafone (14 - 14/14) (+3 +5/-1) EE (7 - 7/6) (0 +1/-1) Orange (2 - 2/1) (-1 -1/-1) T-Mobile (1 - 1/1) (-1 +1/-4) 3 (8 - 8/6) (+1 -2/+2) Tesco (5 - 4/6) (+1 0/+1) Virgin (1 - 2/0) (0 +1/0) Other (2 - 2/2) (-1 -4/+2) Unsure (0 - 0/0) (-1 -1/0) EE Total (10 - 10/8) (-2 +1/-6) |
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#12 |
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The amount of PAYG mobile customers in NI continues to decline in common with trends across the UK though as a whole still has a slightly higher share compared to Britain, the consequence being that sim-only contracts are not as popular in NI.
Code:
Use type 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 PAYG 68 64 65 60 49 48 43 34 Contract w/phone 27 29 29 35 40 40 51 60 Contract Sim Only 03 03 05 05 11 10 04 03 Contract Unsure 01 02 00 01 00 00 02 03 Unsure 00 02 00 00 00 02 00 00 There's certainly been a significant change among this share of customer type over the last 24 months in Northern Ireland. |
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#13 |
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And finally to outdoor coverage. 2G coverage seems to have reduced slightly for some odd reason compared to 2015, though the amount covered by at least one operator is pretty much the same...
Code:
2G Coverage 2015 2016 One 1.5 1.8 Two 5.8 9.6 Three 91.7 87.4 Total 98.9 98.8 Code:
3G Coverage 2014 2015 2016 One 2.2 1.5 0.6 Two 9.0 7.3 2.6 Three 24.0 16.8 7.6 Four 63.3 73.0 88.6 Total 97.8 98.6 99.4 Code:
4G Coverage 2014 2015 2016 One 79.2 40.6 2.6 Two 0.0 5.5 4.7 Three 0.0 45.0 32.2 Four 0.0 0.0 59.9 Total 79.2 91.1 99.3 |
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#14 |
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Join Date: Jul 2014
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Great thread. Just spend 2 weeks in NI and my experience of using Vodafone, Three and EE are that EE 4G is pretty extensive but Vodafone looks to be the same level of coverage. For Three, 4G is pretty sparse. I stuck with Three overall though as I found that Vodafone's service, although showing as high 4G coverage in some areas was a bit hit and miss for essential tasks such as Pokemon Go and I don't have much data allowance with EE.
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#15 |
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#16 |
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I thought that o2 would be in the lead but not by that much.
When I was in school I remember everybody being on o2 payg as it was a pretty good deal at the time. Their 2G coverage is excellent but 3G/4G rollout is terrible. I remember getting my first 3G phone in 2004 and Three covered my town. O2 (Who the majority of my friends/family used) didn't provide 3G in my town until 2012ish. From a contract/cost point of view I'm also surprised they're still leading, I can't say I've ever found a good deal compared to the other networks every time I've went for a new sim/phone. |
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#17 |
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Join Date: Dec 2014
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Quote:
I thought that o2 would be in the lead but not by that much.
When I was in school I remember everybody being on o2 payg as it was a pretty good deal at the time. Their 2G coverage is excellent but 3G/4G rollout is terrible. I remember getting my first 3G phone in 2004 and Three covered my town. O2 (Who the majority of my friends/family used) didn't provide 3G in my town until 2012ish. From a contract/cost point of view I'm also surprised they're still leading, I can't say I've ever found a good deal compared to the other networks every time I've went for a new sim/phone. |
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#18 |
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Quote:
I thought that o2 would be in the lead but not by that much.
Quote:
Their 2G coverage is excellent but 3G/4G rollout is terrible.
There's still some holes in coverage especially in parts of Mid-Tyrone and South Fermanagh, but I expect these will be given attention in due course - their 95% indoor coverage obligation due date of the end of 2017 is slowly creeping up. Quote:
I remember getting my first 3G phone in 2004 and Three covered my town. O2 (Who the majority of my friends/family used) didn't provide 3G in my town until 2012ish.
The turnaround in much of the place going from a mainly 2G GPRS backwater by all the networks to fairly extensive 3G & 4G coverage from at least one operator and three or four in many cases in the space of four years has been a sign of steady progress by all MNOs. Quote:
From a contract/cost point of view I'm also surprised they're still leading, I can't say I've ever found a good deal compared to the other networks every time I've went for a new sim/phone.
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#19 |
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Quote:
People over here think there is no better network than O2, they are brain washed. My local newspaper did a feature recently about o2 starting to roll out 4g in the area. We've had EE 4g for 3 years now and it never got a mention.
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#20 |
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Join Date: Nov 2015
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O2's 4G coverage is in my area, but there are many places around it where you can't get 4G or even 3G and these are built up, populated areas. The fact that you could be driving down the road enjoying 4G and suddenly you drop to 2G is annoying. Their 2G coverage is very good, but they still have quite a few 3G and 4G blackspots, especially in the southern counties and I'm not talking about places near the border with ROI. I hope they finally fill these in, as I have mostly always been with O2. I did switch to EE for the 4G coverage and it worked out very well but then I discovered I would usually only get 4G or nothing, the phone never seemed to go to 2G or 3G so I was left with no signal a lot, so ended up going back to O2 after they finally installed 4G here.
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There's still some holes in coverage especially in parts of Mid-Tyrone and South Fermanagh, but I expect these will be given attention in due course - their 95% indoor coverage obligation due date of the end of 2017 is slowly creeping up.