[3GScottishUser]

As an Orange 3G customer I have to ask the question 'Why did they bother with 3G?'

I bought into a converged deal with a high spec phone on a £30 a month contract for 18 months and as far I know it's been fine in terms of performance both for voice calls, texts and the broadband service.

I want more though and having tasted the benefits of 3G and been given 1GB of usage for free for the 1st 2 months I was disgusted to find that the best Orange can offer if a ridiculous 4MB of data for £4 a month. Nothing is free, you have to subscribe and pay for every MB you use on Orange. Needless to say I have not used thier daft Orange World or the Internet on my Orange phone because of the pricing. Furthermore I have probably not used the basic services much as I don't want to carry 2 devices, so for me Orange have wasted their money providing a 3G phone and have put me off their network with a more restrictive and punitive pricing policy than 3's walled garden which at least provided free information services and tasters without subscription.

It's close to renewal time for me and what was once an attractive converged deal is now useless as it can easily be beaten by stand alone fixed line rental and free broadband deals (from Talk Talk and others) and mobile deals including PAYG offers that more than match Orange's contract deals.

Orange have lost the plot and are probably the least innovative network in the UK in terms of expanding mobile services. While T-Mobile offer Web'N'Walk, 3 offer lots of free stuff on Planet 3 and have affordable Internet and Data add-on's, 02 have embraced the i-phone with unlimited browsing and Vodafone have some decent but restricted mobile Internet add-on's, Orange soldier on subsidising high spec phones with a £1 a MB offer and that includes the very basic use of their portal.

What a shower of absolute numpties France Telecom are to believe that the shrinking benefits of their converged offerings will offset the lunacy of their data pricing.

I think I'll be leaving Orange as I don't like oranaments, which is what a high spec handset on the Orange network is really.

Shame!!

[Hands0n]

A very great shame about Orange but your tale of woe and lament is repeated by anyone I know who has been on Orange. People are departing quicker than the grey furry things on the Titanic. Orange is very definitely a sinking ship these days. All France Telecom ever did was cause its ruination. A big pity indeed.


The only thing with the O2 Unlimited really unlimited deal is that it is for the iPhone contracts only, isn't it? Or have I misread the latest information available today?

On the ordinary tariffs the Data Bolt Ons have Unlimited Fair Use Policies that are anything but!

* A fair use of 200MB per month applies to the O2 Web Bolt On. A fair use of 3GB per month applies to O2 Web Max.

Beware
If anyone is seriously thinking of O2 for 3G I do strongly suggest that you get a trial handset out to survey your area of live, work and play. I [and many others I know] have been O2 3G users and have not had any availability of 3G signal, it often being swamped by the local 2G signal. O2 persistently blamed the handset. When the contract expired and we went to Vodafone I found that the same O2 handset with a Vodafone SIM in racked up 5 bars of 3G signal strength. In fact, it was impossible to find any 2G for the handset to lock into. This story is repeated throughout [at least] the South East and Kent part of the UK.
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[Ben]

I'm not sure why Orange are still so slow to embrace mobile data. I believe that they truly fear VoIP and other data applications cannibalising their revenues, and rather than let it creep in and take them by surprise their answer would appear to be 'just say no' until they know for sure what direction they will be headed in.

By itself that's not necessarily a bad thing. But then why roll out 3G at all? It's like they've been using O2's strategy, but forgot to tell the network engineers.

I seem to be picking up plenty of Orange 3G out and about, but obviously no HSDPA. Just as well, because I don't think there are many people out there who could afford to use it.

It's sad to say that there isn't a lot going for them any more. Outsourced CS, ridiculous charges for delivery reports on text messages, an ageing 3G network and poor data pricing isn't exactly much to look forward to as part of a converged broadband and telephone package. Why would anyone want to put all of their eggs in that basket?

I think there's hope, though. Orange has always been a changing company and I think that will continue to be the case. Innovation will return with fresh faces and hopefully they'll find their feet again.

[@NickyColman]

3GSU you have just summed up my Orange experience!! I have been with them twice on a 3G contract and both times I have left them through boredom
and like you said, lack ofinnovation !

A friend of mine has just bought an LG Viewty on Orange but has taken it back after a few days because he thought Orange did an unlimited internet add on! Which is a shame because its a good solid handset but its being crippled by Oranges 'fenced garden' -lol


I would never return to Orange unless there were some serious changes with how that company runs!!

[gorilla]

Orange for me have always been the most expensive and least innovative. I was with them once or twice about 7 or 8 years ago and come renewal time was amazed by what the other networks were offering compared to orange. It seems nothing has changed.

What I will say is that there is usually no reward for loyalty. You may get an inferior product for less money, but is that better value for money?

Shop around, as you have said, there are plenty of BB deals about.

[3GScottishUser]

Well I contacted them today and they offered no benefit to stay with them. It's 30MB for £8 a month on the phone and thats not good enough especially when that includes the data on their portal.

Orange have lost the plot and have lost me as a mobile, broadband and phone cutsomer because they provided high tech equipment that is totally uneconomical to use to any significant extent.

I have now arranged broadband through CPW and will be buying an LG Viewty on 3 so I can enjoy basic content without having to pay through the nose for it.

The above moves mean more services and better connection speeds for less payment and that has to be a good thing.

[solo12002]

" buying an LG Viewty on 3 so I can enjoy basic content without having to pay through the nose for it"


Oh 3GSU have you came across to the darkside, what is wrong with Vodafone, that you always speak highly of, no talk of it here, dont they do mobile internet as well as phone and BB?

[hecatae]

I have now arranged broadband through CPW and will be buying an LG Viewty on 3 so I can enjoy basic content without having to pay through the nose for it.

I moved to Talktalk on 2nd November, who did you go with?

On another note, my fiancee is on Orange for just the minutes and texts, she gets 500 minutes and 10,000 texts for £21 a month, they also threw the 30mb for £8 in for free.

Their network coverage is still shocking though, signal drops in my locality, no beep beep, just goes dead.

[3GScottishUser]

I also went with Talk Talk but have a 30 day free trial period to assess the performance. I think they had to introduce that because of the negative publicity about their broadband service. Needless to say if it's not up to the job it'll be cancelled.

As for Orange, I have no argument about their basic voice and text services or their bundle pricing for voice/texts. Where I have a major problem is being denied affordable use of the services that the handsets they supply and their network can support. Too bad they have lost the plot and simply ignore the possibility that 1000's of customers providing a little extra revenue using 3G could provide.

3 need to sell anything that promotes their broad 3G network coverage.

Vodafone are technology neutral and sway with the trends.

T-Mobile have embraced the pricing structure but are a bit short on 3G coverage to date.

Orange have the 3G coverage but nothing in terms of product to make anything from customers!

02 have simply paid 3G lip service and have milked traditional GSM revenue streams and upgarded with alternative technologies allied to 3rd party hardware.

Out of the above it's poor Orange that seems to be spending loads getting customers onto new technology but providing nothing in terms of affordable benefits to promote the use of the equipment they subsidise.

[hecatae]

Still amazed how many people add the word "free" to TalkTalk's 30 day trial period, you still have to pay for line rental and talk plan, plus any additional calls.

You get better use of Orange's EDGE network when roaming with 3 than you do being an Orange subscriber.