Originally Posted by camer_000:
“O2 4G with the same coverage as 2G would be pretty good though, and would give EE a run for their money in coverage (not so much in speed however).”
The only way O2 would have any chance of any speed would be to refarm their 1800MHz to 4G, and get that 1800 on every single mast. Otherwise they'll be relying on their 800, which is great for coverage but no good for speed/capacity.
Originally Posted by bookey_uk:
“Where are you located?
Is this just 4G for handset or broadband replacement?
I would say EE, due to the quantity of masts and amount that are to be 4G enabled, the network will be more dense, with an overlay of 800mhz this will improve the depth of indoor coverage even further.
VF and O2, they need to add 800mhz to all the sites and acquire a lot more sites to reach the density of EE,
800mhz has less capacity, 1800mhz has more, 2600mhz has more again...”
EE definitely have quite a lot of masts about, especially the old 2G/3G Orange masts that haven't been upgraded yet... Once these are all upgraded, with 2G/3G/4G, and the MBNL masts have had 4G added, then EE's 4G will be pretty much perfect in terms of coverage, and seeing as the base layer is 1800 there will be a fair bit of capacity as well. I suppose that 2600 could be added if required at a later date.
800MHz with VoLTE working nicely would blow the other operators out of the water.
I'm surprised that Vodafone haven't refarmed their 1800 to 4G, though that's not so critical as they ahve 2600... Even so they need 2600 and 800 on every mast to have any sort of capacity, and as for O2, the sooner they get 800 and 1800 (ex 2G) onto every mast, the better.
Not sure what to say about Three though, their 4G rollout has been, erm... shocking. And who would put 4G800 "Super Voice" below the priority of 3G? The aim of the game is to have good coverage, right? Meaning that 800 would be the answer.
Originally Posted by DevonBloke:
“1. EE
2. Vodafone... one day.
3. O2. They employ Sean Bean and eat pies. No chance of anything good cellular wise though.
4. Three. Hahahahahahahahahahahaha
I think that about sums it up.”
Three's 3G coverage is quite solid, but their 4G rollout? What have they been doing? Why haven't they put 1800 on every mast, to help with capacity? (As they will need all the capacity they can get with the AYCE plans still going.) Why have they got the 800 priority below that of 2100?
The only good thing that will happen with Three's 4G rollout is if they buy O2 and get O2's 4G coverage. That way they can merge their 1800 into one lot of 4G, then shove 800, 900 (3G) and 2100 on every mast.
Another option, highly unlikely but just a thought - what about if, when Three buy out O2, they give up some of their 800, so that they can then get some of BT/EE's 2600? Three would definitely need some sort of 2600 (on every mast) to get some sort of capacity.