[@NickyColman]

Its true, after almost 10 months away from Three, I am returning.

I originally left 3 back in January 2005 when the lack of data and rising prices turned me back to O2.

I went back to O2 with a 30-day sim only contract, however, the lack of videocalling and the fact I was using an "old" 2G handset, made me want to find 3G even more.

So in May I took out an Orange 3G contract in the hope I would get a true 3G experience! Unfortunately this was not the case.

At the time, I was told by an Orange CS advisor that I would have to wait a matter of weeks before 3G coverage was in my area. She was right, apart from the fact the Orange coverage left a huge gap from one end of my street to the other. At first I wasnt bothered as I was under the impression Orange would soon have this sorted. However, weeks have passed and still nothing.

I decided to hound Orange customer services by email to see what answer they could give me for the lack of coverage. It took a full 2 weeks for a reply via email and the reply was not what I was expecting from what I understood to be the best customer services in the market;

"Dear Nick

Thank you for your reply mail.

I have checked the given postcode for you and can confirm that the coverage in that region is 'patchy'.

There is coverage there however there are numerous holes in it. This will explain the problems you are experiencing with your signal strength.

We plan to have more of the region covered by the end of the year, however even when we complete this work there will still be a large portion not covered.

I hope this information has been of more assistance to you with this query."


So, with no hope of 3G coverage in the near future, I picked up my phone, rang Orange, and told them that I wanted to reduce my tarrif as low as possible. I then asked to put in a formal complaint. I fully understand 3G coverage isnt guaranteeable and I realised that it wasnt a case of simply switching a button. But, in the time it I had my Orange contract for, not only had Vodafone and O2 rolled out 3G coverage in my area, but -T-Mobile *funny tune* had also began roll-out up here (i live near their call centre).

Yet Orange couldnt plug a gap the size of my street and there was no guarantee I would ever get it done.

I was also having problems with delayed texts, dropped calls, and network blackouts. Nothing could explain it. I could be in 50% gsm signal in one part of my room and walk to the other and it could have completely gone. If i left my phone still for too long I would pick it up and find no coverage.

Needless to say, I am not impressed.

It was even more infuriating that Three, who have been slated for coverage issues, have 100% coverage 24/7 in the area.

So with that, I realised I had 2/3 months left on my VideoTalk100 contract. I promptly gave them a ring, see my other post re my satisfaction, and upped my contract to Online 1400 for the remaining months.

Im fully aware Three arent the perfect network yet, but at the moment they can provide me with what I need. 100% 3G coverage 24/7, tonnes of texts (1000), a good load of minutes (300), 50 video mins, 50 video/picture messages a month, £5s worth of downloads, and certain internet access (£2.50) all for £32.50 a month.

At the moment, no other network can match that.

So guys, wish me luck!
:)

[3GScottishUser]

Get yourself an NUS card and get unlimited texts and photo messages from Vodafone on any of their contracts. You can get the on-line 125 deal for £20/month and that gets you 125 X/net mins, Stop the Clock (18 month deals) making off-peak calls really cheap, and of course unlimited texts and pic messages. Video calls are free until Sept 30th (that may be extended).

You also get a free Samsung Z500 or SE V600, or a Nokia 6630. decent UK based customer service and roaming at afordable prices, Vodafone Live is also free.

With 2 months to go I suspect you have done a good thing by keeping your options open as it looks like there will be a lot more attractive deals in the run-up to Christmas.

[@NickyColman]

Yeah, I thought that too. Im really not interested in a handset at the moment with having the N90, so its basically a sim that im looking for.

Ill give Three a two month run, see how it goes. If im unsatisfied after then, ill know i havent signed myself up for another year and i can look about at the offers.

Might I add, Three also offer a way to keep a track of your free allowance, ie texts/mins/vids/pics/content all via My3. At the moment, other operators have you call a number, and some dont even provide remaining texts (which is where my huge-bill problem lies)

Like you, 3GSU I expect Christmas to throw some cracking deals our way as the Christmas 3G war begins...

[Ben]

I think this is a good example of where Three are offering a preferable service to the incumbent operators in certain areas. It's a great value tariff and, while I'm pretty sure you'll still spend pretty widely over it some months, the bills will undoubtedly be cheaper than on Orange.

You've had something of a rough ride with Orange from the beginning, and that's unexcusable for a company that has a whopping ten years on Three.

I still believe in 'you get what you pay for' - and I think in my case I get better value for money on Vodafone and Orange than I could do on Three simply because Three do not cater for my needs. There's also the customer service issue. Your seemingly excellent network coverage and mobile usage patterns definitely make Three sound favourable for you, though.

[gorilla]

I rang up yesterday to change to online 1400 and spoke to a very helpful woman if a little new to the job i.e. I'll have to check if you can do that etc. And before anyone starts India bashing she sounded like a leeds lass. I think this is a much better value tariff than talk and text 600 which I was previously on (well still am until the next billing month!). That makes 3 calls to CS, the 1st dropped but the other two have proved very good.