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Remember when Three bought a chunk of now 4G-capable 1800MHz spectrum from EE? Well, it seems Three’s right-ready to launch a 4G network before the likes of Vodafone and O2. Could the UK’s next 4G network come from Three? Is unlimited 4G on the horizon?
Three’s got the spectrum, and just like EE could launch an LTE network right this minute, but there’s a catch. Part of the purchase agreement between EE and Three is that EE has to give the go-ahead to use the wireless spectrum and clear the airwaves. When it actually does that is the question, and to some extent up to EE and out of Three’s hands.
Thinking about it from EE’s perspective, why on Earth would it give up its 4G monopoly early by freeing up Three to roll out its own network? So, even though Three is apparently raring to go, don’t hold your breath. Eventually, for sure, Three will have a 4G network to call its own, but whether it’ll roll out be any earlier than the likes of Vodafone’s or O2′s LTE network is unknown. Something tells me it’s highly unlikely. Let’s just hope that Three’s unlimited all-you-can-eat stance on data survives the transition to 4G, because that really would mean we’d be cooking with gas. [Cnet]
Image credit: Mobile mast from Shutterstock
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I think EE will hold onto their exclusive, but 3 have a head start over the others – they can launch larger tests, run through real-world scenarios. Their network should start out better than the others. I maintain that the best business sense would be to have a very expensive unlimited data plan, with tiers below it, at least until the exclusive runs out.
The only reason I can think for EE to agree is if it had been part of their negotiations with Ofcom to allow them to launch 4G early. If they sold some to Three and then allowed them to start the network before the official 4G auction, they cannot be accused of creating a monopoly or gaining an unfair advantage because there would still be some competition in the market even if the other two major networks don’t have it yet.
I’ve spent hours trying to get my T-Mobile contract migrated to EE. Hating EE customer service right now. Bring on Three!
Three customer service is hell on earth. I’ve stayed with them because I refuse to have anything less than unlimited Data my iPhone, despite their useless customer resource
I’ve never had a problem with them, maybe they just don’t like you…
same here never had an issue with them considering they are mostly Not english they know there technical stuff nice to talk to them, if i talk to any other network customer services rep most of they are like ????? ok
apart from they Never build any more masts to fill in the gaps in their network (why i am on giffgaff as need my phone to work indoors as well as marginale outdoor coverage in dense housed areas , not just in the middle of nowhere like green belt land)
oo and they really do not want you to leave as well (takes about 1 hour to get to the department that gives you your PAC code that is if you can get one out of them as they try to make your bill cheaper first so you stay with them)
you can get contract all you can eat with them for £10 if you try (no tethering, as thats the One Plan)
No tethering….but they don’t seem to mind wifi hotspots even if you don’t have the One plan, not that I’ve ever done that of course.
When I signed up with them they missed the AYCE data from my contract – I called them up and the guy got it sorted in a few minutes and then wanted to know what I thought of the SGS3 as he was considering getting one but didn’t know anyone with one.
wifi hotspot is tethering, it depends on the phone if you get blocked for doing it
if its an 3 Banded phone and your on AYCE plan you most likely hit the not allowed page instantly (Three phones has 2 APNs or has an burnt in background app that reports to Three when you start the hotspot)
if its unbranded phone its very likely not get detected at all (probably based of amount of downloaded in the day or hour)
I know, that was my point – they don’t allow tethering and yet for some people the wifi hotspotting seems to work ok and they can’t seem to differentiate between a tablet and a phone.
really depends on the phone (if its Three banded or not, or if the phone is a apple phone or Newer Motorola phones as they block tethering/hotspot by default unless the Mobile operator allows it)
Being a customer on and off since the early days of 3, I’ll give them credit – they’ve come a long way and their coverage is very good (at least in SE England).
If they launch a 4G version of their tether-and-spank-it-all-you-like-bonefide-unlimited One Plan, I’d happy to pay double my plan costs at least. It’s saved me on more than one occasion when my office network went down.
I was outside the 3 offices in Maidenhead yesterday and using the 3 network on my iphone 5 got 19 meg download. I am not sure if they are testing 4g or even if it would work on my standard sim but it was fast.
https://twitter.com/01101001/status/263223870796996608/photo/1/large
I have been getting 18+ meg (iphone 5) over the last few days, it seems to be improving on a daily basis, as far as I know thats just HSPA+,
Our current network roams to 42.6 mb per second at over 50% of our current map coverage.
so what would you take, 4G in ten cities, or HSPA+ 42 mb at 50% of the uk (or close enough (21 mbs in the rest)?
When Three (inevitably) roll out LTE, will they re-brand themselves Four?
Problem with THree is random places have limited coverage with no overlap on their masts (so there is Dead spots in between masts and no signal in doors)
I imagine EE want to keep hold of their monopoly for as long as possible particularly with their pricing and unrealistic 3G usage based datacaps.
It wouldn’t take much in 3 could launch to win custom from EE just offer a good base data cap for the same price as the joke £36 deal EE do. But realisticly if it’s EE’s decision why would they allow competition until they have to.