Ben
3rd April 2005, 08:39 PM
Some of you may have seen this message come up on your Orange 3G handset in certain areas. It's a rare occurance, but calling customer services may not yield an accurate answer.
If your phone worked fine initially and/or will work fine on 3G signal when you move away from the affected area (you'll need to drive far enough so that you're being serviced by a different mast) then it's an isolated issue with your local transmitter. Whenever I've experienced this it has been right before a new transmitter has been put into service. I can only assume that when engineers are testing these new masts they have some way of excluding other users in the area from being able to make/receive calls/texts. It seems to be a deliberate withdrawal of servcie.
However, with some handsets, this will cause a problem - some handsets do not let you stick the phone to 2G mode. In this case, you must remove your USIM card and place it in a GSM handset until the mast is available for public use again. Logging a complaint with 350 is recommended - ensure you tell them that the phone functions fine on 3G signal in other geographic locations, so it's definitely the local transmitter that's out of service. Someone, somewhere, probably already knows - but you should tell Orange just incase.
If your handset displays No Access and has never been able to use 3G signal successfully regardless of your geographic location then it's a handset fault. 350 will send you a replacement. Note that your phone may still work in 2G mode, but your USIM card will almost certainly work in a GSM handset. Just check before getting the replacement that 3G services have been 'provisioned' for you.
If your USIM card doesn't work in a GSM handset then it's a problem with your USIM or account. Call 350 and request a replacement USIM.
Hope that helps, I'm sure 3g-g can shed a more technical light on the matter when he gets back off his hols.
Ben
If your phone worked fine initially and/or will work fine on 3G signal when you move away from the affected area (you'll need to drive far enough so that you're being serviced by a different mast) then it's an isolated issue with your local transmitter. Whenever I've experienced this it has been right before a new transmitter has been put into service. I can only assume that when engineers are testing these new masts they have some way of excluding other users in the area from being able to make/receive calls/texts. It seems to be a deliberate withdrawal of servcie.
However, with some handsets, this will cause a problem - some handsets do not let you stick the phone to 2G mode. In this case, you must remove your USIM card and place it in a GSM handset until the mast is available for public use again. Logging a complaint with 350 is recommended - ensure you tell them that the phone functions fine on 3G signal in other geographic locations, so it's definitely the local transmitter that's out of service. Someone, somewhere, probably already knows - but you should tell Orange just incase.
If your handset displays No Access and has never been able to use 3G signal successfully regardless of your geographic location then it's a handset fault. 350 will send you a replacement. Note that your phone may still work in 2G mode, but your USIM card will almost certainly work in a GSM handset. Just check before getting the replacement that 3G services have been 'provisioned' for you.
If your USIM card doesn't work in a GSM handset then it's a problem with your USIM or account. Call 350 and request a replacement USIM.
Hope that helps, I'm sure 3g-g can shed a more technical light on the matter when he gets back off his hols.
Ben