[3g-g]

So, you want more that 128kb/sec from O2 on your 3G service? Well, if you do O2 thinks you're a techie nerd. Nice.

And if that's what O2 think of those wanting to adopt 3G technology, the technology they spent billions investing in, well, I'll make sure my cash stays with any of the other 4. And their thoughts that those leaving O2 for other networks are "muppets" is fine with me. This little insight is perhaps the reason as to why O2 have been so unbelievably poor in rolling out their 3G network, by the looks of it they don't want high spending data eating punters. I kinda hope they don't get their network to the required percentage of coverage and end up with the massive fine OFCOM are threatening them with.


Mobile phone companies are notorious for absurd customer segmentation schemes, but a mis-placed phone call by O2's PR department yesterday showed exactly what they think of The Register and its readers.

We've been talking to O2 a lot lately, and clearly our interest in their "allocated bandwidth" has got them flustered.

So flustered, in fact, they accidentally dialed up an El Reg reporter while still discussing what to tell him.

We were expecting a call from O2, so when it came it was no surprise. But when the caller didn't respond to our repeated greeting we had little choice but to sit back and listen to what was being discussed. This, happily, turned out to be the best way in which to backtrack and rescind statements previously made about the issue in hand, and how best to characterise the Reg's readership.

The discussion, between two in-house PRs, centred around how to paint anyone wanting more bandwidth than the 128Kb/sec O2 deems suitable as clearly being "a bunch of techie nerds".

Of course, these are communications professionals, so they wisely discuss how to avoid using that term, or as they put it, find "...a good way of saying they're all geeks".

Yes, O2's comms team was keen to avoid anything that might encourage subscribers to leave the telco. Indeed, in their eyes, anyone threatening to leave the network is clearly a "muppet", with the PRs asking each other incredulously "...and join who? 3?"

Well, perhaps they just might.

O2 PR's contempt for the Reg readership happily established, the utter flack-wits only had to decide how best to get the message across, with the dynamic duo deciding against a simple email statement: "I think I'm going to call him as well. I'm not scared of Bill Ray."

Which is just as well. Otherwise, they'd have been equally scared about the consequences of revealing just what you think of your customer base.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/09/o2_accidental_call/

[Hands0n]

LOL, oh that is just too funny! I would love to be a fly on the wall at that particular office.

Personally I don't take too much credence from the pair of "muppets" who were overheard. O2, unless they've lost all sense of the commercial aspect of business, will know that like it or not they have to compete against, yes even, the likes of 3 who are mopping up the mobile data market so much that even the mighty Vodafone has had to follow with the [now standard] £15/3GB package.

Of course, O2 could decide to go it alone and ignore mobile data altogether just as Apple drop in the 3G/HSPA iPhone. Steve Jobs would not be terribly impressed at O2 pulling the proverbial out from under him in such a manner. Expect to see the third gen iPhone on Vodafone, 3 and others in that case. And we all know how quickly Apple turn out new gens of product!

[chaslam]

Well, I have heard a few rumors of Vodafone winning the 3G iphone contract, but I highly doubt that. For a start what would happen to all the o2 iphone customers who want to upgrade?

This seems like the perfect place to say just what I said in the other thread about the iphone 3G Chipset:

The couple of days ago I had a customer come in who brought a E90 on o2 (they initially wanted it on vodafone, but they got lured into o2) and the primary reason they got it was for high speed internet. He got it home, locked onto 3G, and loaded up the BBC website. Just under a minute later (53 seconds to be exact) it had finished loading. Thinking this was very slow, he went onto the o2 website of where it showed FULL HSDPA (Yes FULL) across the whole of the south east of england. That includes the whole of Brighton, Hove, Shorham and worthing. Now, if anyone is familar with the south coast, apparently o2s HSDPA coverage even covered the WHOLE of the south downs and Devils Dyke.
Now vodafone have by far the best HSDPA coverage in the south, and in some places in the downs there isnt even 2G coverage let alone 3G or HSDPA, yet o2 are claiming to have 100% of the south coast covered.

We then decided to put this theory to the test and walked around the building until we got a 3.5G logo on the customers E90. We went to the back door and jumped up and down, and we got the logo for about 5 seconds and then it disappeared. Its like o2 just got a blue marker and coloured in the whole of the south coast.

I then told him that o2 limit their 3G network to 128kbp/s anyway, and he was furious. He said hes tried to call o2 and cancel within the 14 days and they have refused, despite their website claiming a 14 day return policy on all of their handsets, so he wasnt going to go into store and demand it to be cancelled. After all, he was mis-sold the contract being promised high speed internet, which he obviously isnt getting.

Now I do like the iphone, despite it being severely overpriced and under functioning compared to alot of other phones on the market, but I really think o2 have ruined everything with it. I used to be with o2 however recently ive heard of people having nothing but trouble with them. It seems they have just concentrated on their iphone to much, and completely neglected the rest of their network. I mean the whole 3G rollout has completely halted so they can concentrate on EDGE, let alone HSDPA coverage. I bet if you walked into a o2 store they wouldn't even know what it meant! It seems to me their strategy is to limit the speed of 3G network to make their EDGE network appear alot faster. I mean its like Ferrari wanting to sell more Fiat cars, so their limit the speed of the Ferrari engine so the Fiat Puntos go faster, its silly!