[3GScottishUser]

From Guardian Unlimited (13/11/2006):

Mobile phone group 02 raised its forecast for UK revenues on Monday as it revealed it had added more than half a million new customers in the third quarter.

O2, bought by Spanish telecoms giant Telefónica last year, reported net additions at its UK unit of 524,000 customers in the three months to the end of September. Net service revenues at the UK arm were up 14.9%.

Revenues also rose at 02's German and Czech businesses but in Ireland service revenues fell 1.7%, in what O2's chairman and chief executive Peter Erskine described as a "competitive market".

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1946518,00.html

[Ben]

Are they just making the numbers up now? :p Half a million new subs is great and all, but one has to wonder where the hell they're all coming from in such a saturated market.

With their 3G proposition remaining relatively weak it'd be interesting to know just what aspect of their service is so attractive to new customers.

[3GScottishUser]

I can think of a certain 3G network who will be shedding a lot of pre-pay customers right now!!

Lots of folks now seem to have 2 handsets nowadays. I have seen quite a few lately with one for 'personal' texts etc and one for normal family type stuff.

Just what are those mobile networks encouraging??

[Hands0n]

I simply cannot believe those O2 numbers, there is nothing that attractive about their proposition to pull in half a million new punters. And from where? As Ben rightly says, this is a saturated market and, even with two phones each, there are better propositions on the go than O2's.

Coupled with O2's very poor 3G (and reportedly weak 2G) quality and coverage I wonder how many will stay the duration, or at the very least churn at the end of their contract term.

I've got O2 ranked 4th where I used to place T-Mobile before they got all competitive and spruced up their propositions.

[3GScottishUser]

02's weak 2G.. ??? They are the benchmark!! They provide services for Fire, Ambulence and Police services throughout the UK on Airwave and have the biggest footprint of all mobile operators sharing srvices with Vodafone in remote areas like the Highlands of Scotland.

It has to be remembered that 02 have built up lots of loyalty with free weekends ad bolt ons that were attractive to lots of younger users for many years and they have been busy selling services through their outlets to both existing and new customers.

02's tariffs are now very competitive with 750 mins X/Net and 750 SMS with a free SE K800i and videocalls at the same price as voice on their 18 month deals. They also provide good deals on off-peak tariffs that suit lots of users and give decent handsets away on those too. I suppose they must also be offering good levels of commision for multiples like CPW to be supporting them so heavily.

I think 02 have got a very wide ranging strategy and it seems to be paying off in terms of the figures that matter.

[3g-g]

02's weak 2G.. ??? They are the benchmark!! They provide services for Fire, Ambulence and Police services throughout the UK on Airwave and have the biggest footprint of all mobile operators sharing srvices with Vodafone in remote areas like the Highlands of Scotland.

I'll agree that they do have good coverage out on the Highlands and Islands, no more so than Vodafone however, as every site they have there is a shared one. However, O2 GSM doesn't provide communications for the emergency services, they're provided by Airwave, a subsidiary of O2. Emergency services run on a 380/390MHz TETRA network, exclusively for their use.

[Hands0n]

02's weak 2G.. ??? They are the benchmark!!

Down in the South East, at least, the O2 2G signal quality has allegedly been degrading. Several I know who are on O2 report that they are constantly suffering call drops and in-call voice quality problems, even when static (i.e. in their home sitting down!).

For sure, O2 have a reputation for a solid and comprehensive network coverage - but for whatever reason this appears to have eroded somewhat if the reports are true. Certainly I know that when I call my O2 buddies the chances of a call failure are reasonably high. It may just be that they are suffering saturation down here, and if that is so they should attend to it before they lose their customer loyalty.

O2's 3G signal availability and quality is not worth discussing, it is dire and I could not and would not recommend O2 for 3G to anyone. The likes of 3 outstrip it completely by 100% of percent!

[Ben]

The quality provided by O2 is certainly less than it was. Possibly because they've failed to increase capacity over recent years at the same rate their subscriber base has increased.