News - O2 and Vodafone form alliance for the roll-out of 4G

[HEXUS]

The two firms will pool their resources for enhanced 2G, 3G and 4G coverage.

Read more.

[kingpotnoodle]

Certainly in the case of Vodafone improving the coverage of their 3G network would also be a good thing, my tablet's 3 mobile broadband is almost universal whereas my phone's Vodafone encounters serious blackspots and I have to use a SureSignal box at home. Suffice it to say I will be switching providers when the contract runs out!

[Kushan]

I wonder what Three will do now, their main focus has been mobile broadband and having a "network designed for mobile internet" but at this rate they'll be the only ones without 4G.

[Scribe]

Certainly in the case of Vodafone improving the coverage of their 3G network would also be a good thing, my tablet's 3 mobile broadband is almost universal whereas my phone's Vodafone encounters serious blackspots and I have to use a SureSignal box at home. Suffice it to say I will be switching providers when the contract runs out!

Vodafone's 3g is great when you get a signal, 2G coverage is fine I find.

[wombat]

Been on 3 PAYG for a few years and reasonably happy, have to say their service is very patchy around here though (Northants). I join my mates for the odd gig and mine is always the phone without any service when in surrounding villages and stuff. Now that 3 have cut the freebies to 45 days Giffgaff sounds very tempting with the O2 infrastructure. 3 really should keep an eye on this or they'll get left behind.

[Arthran]

The frustrating thing is still that Three are the only reasonable all you can eat data. I've moved and i get 0 signal in my new house (fine in the garden though...) so im looking to change networks, and not 1 really appeals for the price vs usage. I can only hope that the 4G roll outs alleviate this issue

[kingpotnoodle]

Vodafone's 3d is great when you get a signal, 2G coverage is fine I find.

Yeah it's moderately fast *when* I can get coverage, trouble is that's quite patchy. Considering I spend 95% of my time in and around London I find the reception problems with Vodafone to be plain shoddy, it's not like I'm in a small remote village. I got better 3G reception in Sharm El Sheikh last week.

I'll probably keep my mobile broadband with 3 and then use T-Mobile for my phone, unless of course Vodafone can turn it around in the next 6 months so my train journey is less patchy coverage!

[LSG501]

great... I moved away from vodafone to o2 due to the rubbish customer service I got from vodafone.... only 2 that give me a signal inside the house lol

come on three (or t-mobile) improve your signal to me will you, I know where your transmitter is so you just need to boost that signal, you're closer than vodafone and o2 who I get a signal with lol

[Brewster0101]

Goody, the two worst companies regarding data limits and prices are joining forces to no doubt try and corner that market and squeeze Three out - and then we will all be screwed into rubbish data packages and high prices.

Three are the only deserving company for 4G - until the other companies do proper unlimited data packages , they can all sink in a pool of crap.

[wombat]

If I could warrant a tenner a month on my mobile then 250 mins/unlimited text and data isn't bad on giffgaff (shame they prohibit tethering on that). Mind you could get rid of my landline which I don't use, there again Virgin will just up my broadband price to compensate

LOL...one thing we can probably all agree on...bloody phone companies!

[keithwalton]

It's a radical idea so much so that it will never work but cant we just have one 4g network that covers everywhere like we do with every other service. Would be a whole lot cheaper and faster to setup as they wouldn't have to worry about interference from other networks and each location would use an appropriate frequency for the size of the cell rather than which one the carrier won in the auction

[LSG501]

Goody, the two worst companies regarding data limits and prices are joining forces to no doubt try and corner that market and squeeze Three out

Bit comical then for me as the only reason I'm still with o2 (other than signal) is that I can't even get a comparable package for £20 like I have now... unlimited landline, unlimited net, more text's than I'll ever need and 800mins cross net per month. Got it around 3 years ago and you can't even get a contract anywhere near it these days

[Skywalker]

Used to have O2 and 3 and didnt find big difference in coverage really, so in the end it was down to data cap. Thats where I personaly, would like to see improvements.

Some 5Gb from the get go in 2012? please..

[Kushan]

It's a radical idea so much so that it will never work but cant we just have one 4g network that covers everywhere like we do with every other service. Would be a whole lot cheaper and faster to setup as they wouldn't have to worry about interference from other networks and each location would use an appropriate frequency for the size of the cell rather than which one the carrier won in the auction

Yeah and who gets this one network and how much do you think they'll charge with no competition?

[Scribe]

great... I moved away from vodafone to o2 due to the rubbish customer service I got from vodafone.... only 2 that give me a signal inside the house lol

come on three (or t-mobile) improve your signal to me will you, I know where your transmitter is so you just need to boost that signal, you're closer than vodafone and o2 who I get a signal with lol

With Vodafone, just tell them you're a business customer, it's a whole other world.