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Three’s just done something totally awesome for the UK’s 4G roll out. It’s come out and said on-record that it’ll make 4G LTE available at no extra cost to its customers. You’ll be able to get 4G from Three on any of its existing or new plans without having to pay any more to go faster, and that’s awesome.
Basically, Three considers LTE as an extension to its “Ultrafast” network. In reality, Three’s talking about the latest evolution of 3G called DC-HSDPA. So, if you’ve got a compatible handset, come Three’s 4G switch-on, then you’ll be able to grab those sweet, sweet LTE waves without having to pay a penny more.
“LTE will be available as standard with all customers’ price plans when the roll-out begins later this year.”
Of course, Three bought a chunk of 1800MHz LTE-capable spectrum from EE a while back, and that’s what the network’s initially going to use to provide 4G signals. Three is also bidding in the 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum auction that’s going on right now, so hopefully it’ll come away with some more waves to extend its network capacity.
As for those looking to pick the right phone for all this “ultrafast” and LTE-goodness, here’s what Three has to say:
“Customers with Ultrafast ready devices, including the Apple iPhone 5, Nokia Lumia 920, Sony Xperia Z, Apple iPad mini and Apple iPad with Retina display, can already enjoy Three’s Ultrafast network and will also be able to use the 1800Mhz spectrum when it is added later this year. Device choice is growing rapidly with new Ultrafast ready LTE versions of the Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II being launched on Three within the next month, and the BlackBerry Z10 launching mid-February.”
There’s no doubt EE’s 4G network is awesome, but it’s pricing, well, isn’t. Fair enough, EE’s got a monopoly on 4G in the UK at the moment, but with Three going the route of no-premium-for-LTE then 4G might actually be affordable in the near future. Of course, we have to wait, probably until late Summer for Three to be in a position to actually start pumping out those blazing 4G waves, but hell, maybe this’ll force the other networks into doing the same? [Three]
Image credit: Three from Shutterstock
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Without what?!
Extra cost!
i am getting confused on all this 4g stuff,
so you have the 1800mhz, 800MHz and 2.6GHz
so will a phone have to support all 3 of these or just any one of these
it all seems so badly planned
“it all seems so badly planned” as usual
The Nokia Lumia 920 & 820 both support all three UK LTE bands already.
That’s the thing. Currently most 4G phones have an 1800MHz-supporting variant, because parts of Europe use 1800MHz. At some point 4G phones targeted at the UK should support at least all three bands, but of course Ofcom’s trying to release LTE onto any part of the cellular spectrum currently in use, so we could end up with a load more bands being used for 4G.
It’s a bit of a mess now. If you want my advice, hold off buying a 4G capable phone until you need it on a 4G network (unless you’re going for EE now of course).
i don’t need lte as i barely use my phone of wifi other than for maps a bit of googling email etc.. so 3g is more than suitable for my needs i am not a power user
so for the foreseeable future 3g is fine for me
Thing is, with Three doing this, there’s no reason not to buy a 4G phone. It won’t cost you anything more and you’ll be future proofed. Mind you, it depends when your refresh cycle is, and how it lines up with the switch-on of other 4G networks in the UK.
I’m like you in this respect and my hope is all the people going to 4G will make my 3G run faster
A phone will only need to support one band at a minimum the iPhone 5 only supports the 1800 MHz in the UK.
The Nokia 920 supports all bands.
Not necessarily – what if the iPhone 5 doesn’t support the bands of certain networks? Ideally they should support all three.
Well yes ideally your phone should support all three, but your phone does not have to support all three to get 4G it will just be limited to carriers that use that band.
Yeah, that’s what I mean.
Well, I for one got fed up of EE when I just tried to buy a SIM only contract.
I’m going to sit out until 3 release theirs then pop it into my brand new Nexus 4.
nexus 4 isn’t 4G ready
http://www.extremetech.com/electronics/141422-how-to-enable-the-nexus-4s-dormant-lte-support-while-you-still-can
I think the 850 MHz band is the only one relevant to UK here, and 3 will have space on the 1800MHz band.
so what band will that work on then? and does it actually work?
Nexus 4 has no LTE. Awkward. Although I believe it supports DC-HSDPA, which is nearly as good, and 3 are the only network to use that.
It certainly works however as EddyCJ says it’s on limited bandwidths. Don’t forget, 850mhz works on 800mhz too.
Think you replied to the wrong person – that was what I was saying
. Good luck with the N4! Hope the radios work okay 
so is it actual 4g? if so what mhz is it?
Read the link buddy.
I’ve just checked and I can enable LTE on mine however who knows if it works as I’m not on an LTE contract.
That’s what all companies should be doing. Three seems to be the only one with common sense.
*so far
I don’t know, makes good business sense to have a small premium.
I think that, it makes good sense to grab market share when you have a monopoly and then keeping those customers happy after, so they don’t leave you. Specially considering that both of your ventures (T-Mobile and Orange) have failed to compete properly with 02, Virgin and 3 in the past.
I agree that EE are too over-priced – just a £5 premium, I think, would make sense. But I just think the Apple approach of ‘Expensive, and who gives a toss about the market share we gain, so long as the profit margins are large’ is superior.
If I had signed up for EE on a two year contract I would be kicking myself. As for Apple’s approach…
Oh, I’m not saying Apple’s products are superior, it’s just a better approach with regards to making money.
Yes, but look how fast they lost market share, if you are looking for a “quick” buck you charge as much as you can and you’ll be sorted, if you want to build a solid company you have to think in the long run and market share is one of the key points, also it is a good idea not to make your newly acquired customers feel like they have been shafted.
Fair enough, I don’t have a clue
I just get ticked off with companies being greedy and it makes my day to see them crash and burn.
Hmm… Very interesting. So if they’re going to tack this on to their One Plan (aka the tether and spank all you like data plan), it’s going to be a very sweet deal indeed.
I’m still confused by this!
As an iPhone 5 user with 3 and the all you can eat plan, when will be it coming and what about these rumours of the 1800 spectrum only?
Should I just expect to see 4G on my iPhone or will I have to do something?
Still a little vague!
The iPhone 5 supports LTE on the 1800MHz band, which Three owns a chunk of. Three won’t be able to deploy LTE on its chunk of the 1800MHz band until EE relinquishes it, though, which means a wait until sometime in the summer at least. And no, in theory you won’t need to do anything with your iPhone 5 to be able to grab LTE on Three, apart from maybe a SIM swap.
As a Three user in the South West, I currently get on an iphone 5, 24mb down and nearly 3Mb up.
Upgrades were completed down here around Christmas time and quadrupled the network speeds.
Good news for me!
I thought of you when this came up!
I’m really, really happy with Three. They’re the best network I’ve been with so far (and I’ve been with the lot). The customer service is pretty good (ok, the cold calling is bad, but I just blocked the number the second time they called), the unlimited data plan is -genuinely- what they say it to be and the fact that they’ll not be ripping the arse out of this 4G thing when they get their turn is -very- good news.
I’d definitely recommend the One Plan, especially with this news. I’m moving forward to getting unlocked phones instead of subsidized ‘cos I just can’t help but want to change them before my contract ends – but there’s no way I’m getting rid of this contract itself.
I’ll look forward to picking up an LTE phone later in the year and enjoying the 4G goodness without EE’s nonsense.
This is great news, especially to those on Three! I have to admit that Three’s data service is unparalleled amongst carriers, but unfortunately their coverage in my area is really poor.
If they somehow improve this, then I’d consider jumping back to them, but hopefully this action alone will set things in motion for driving prices down. I’d imagine these cost savings would be passed down in about a year or so on other networks.
Well just got a Nexus 4 so although it wont make a difference to me at the moment (as the Nexus 4 doesn’t support LTE), it’s swayed me a little to join the One Plan. BTW whats people experience of 3′s DC-HSDPA, is it definitely a lot faster than normal 3G?
Oh but it does. It’s got an LTE chip in it which can be activated with some quick button presses. Currently it causes a small issue with Google Now but I’m sure that’ll be worked through soon.
links? From what i’ve read The LTE on the Nexus 4 is only on a very specific band which makes it useless for all but a few US carriers
http://bit.ly/12mL8hZ
I have an Ipad3 (with Retina Display) on three, Will this work for me?
I guess not – but am now considering seeing if I can get Three to swap my Ipad3 for an Ipad4 based on this comment from JudgeGledd:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4425181?start=60&tstart=0
May be worth a look i got mine from 3, and about a month later the 4 came out, i note that the 3 press release does say ipad with retina display is compatible, so surely that false advertising as my ipad had a retina display and is clearly not compatible
And, in an instant, my decision to get my iphone 5 on contract with Three has been completely villified.
Vilified? Are you sure that’s the correct word?
Hooray
three is UK’s best network.. it offers the more for your buck especially data, it’s the only UK network that is truly unlimited data.. only thing is coverage isn’t the greatest but still good.
2 years ago i got a completely uncapped, no fair use plan from Talkmobile. They’ve since stopped doing uncapped plans so i couldnt go sim-only.
Switched over to three and while the coverage seems better, I often get data dropping for no reason, Especially when i try to download a new Rom (about 130 meg).
This is AWESOME news, I’m on the One Plan with Three (iPhone 5).
Apart from the spotty signal you get in some closed environments i.e. shopping centres.. I’ve found Three’s services to be brilliant contrary to popular belief.
In our home, we’ve yet to decide on which broadband service to have fitted, but we’re honestly in no rush, because a macbook pro, an iPad 3 and two iPod touches are tethered up nicely to my iPhone 5 daily with decent upload/download speeds. So I can only imagine how fast the 4G will be
who knows, with this news we may not even need a broadband connection now.
Well done 3! Hopefully this will put a rocket up EE’s arse and the other suppliers when they are announced!
I have been a customer with T-Mobile from 2004 to 2010, after being such a long customer I used to get loyalty discount every year up to £10 on my contract for any handset upgrade (excluding iPhone, yeh go figure!) So for a price plan of 15 quids per month I used to pay 5 quids a month!!
Until T-Mobile decided to close a lot of call centres and take them overseas, lots of redundancies, one of my colleague working in the HQ at Hertfordshire being made redundant and no loyalty for customers on their tarrif either!
Since then I quit them and joined monthly contract with 3 and they are the best so far! GiffGaff are not bad either
Three also do free sims including micro SIMs!!!
https://www.three.co.uk/Support/Free_SIM/Order
I got a feeling three prices shall rise again, completely unrelated to the 4G investment though! just a coincidence i would think!
This is why I only signed for 12months with 4GEE
Huzzar