[solo12002]

TESCOS CUTS THE COST OF THE IPHONE SLIGHTLY?


http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/apr/12/tesco-mobile-iphone-tariff

[Ben]

I'm surprised this made the news, lol. But I'm all in favour of the iPhone becoming more affordable, given how damn revolutionary it is.

Maybe 3GSU will get one now? :)

[Hands0n]

As an MVNO Tesco use O2 as their network provider (see http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/30/tesco_mobile_500k_sign-ups/ ) That, for me, would be the deal-breaker, rendering this offer as useful to me as a chocolate fireguard.

I left O2 with my iPhone as soon as I could because their coverage, especially 3G, is absolutely dreadful in North Kent and London. Patchy at best, non-existent at worst, with lots of poor quality in between. The town of over 30,000 that I live in has three O2 3G masts that, in this hilly area, are bound not to cover very well. In the 3 years that I used them the service never bettered, and often worsened.

Although, I do read that in some parts of the UK their service is outstanding.

[solo12002]

"3G, is absolutely dreadful in North Kent and London. Patchy at best" Handons if you think thats bad, come to Northern Ireland, were o2 3g coverage is beaten by two bake bean cans and a bit of cord!!

Its hard to understand that one of the first two mobile networks in the UK is one of the tail enders when it comes to providing 3g and even more to work out how they got acess to what many feel is one of the worlds best smart phones.

Apple must of been asleep when o2 provded their 3g coverage map, it been that bad for one Ive given up a 30day sim only contract and went back to using a PAYG sim on three as I use my sSmsung GalaxyPortal on it with much better 3G coverage

[Ben]

My part of Kent has abysmal O2 3G also. I think it all stems from O2's previous owner absolutely juicing every penny from the infrastructure they had in order to sell for maximum profit. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose... unless you're an O2 customer :)

Telefonica have a momentous challenge on their hands, and their constant denials and even recent claims that they have the best UK network for mobile broadband (they say they carry more data than anyone else) aren't helping - by the time their network is up to speed it wont matter because no one will believe them anymore.

I suppose Apple's original decision was overly weighted towards O2's 2G and EDGE coverage.

[Hands0n]

I think you're right there Ben - the original iPhone didn't have any 3G, and I am not entirely convinced that Apple had any short term intentions to provide 3G. It was probably only the storm of outrage in the known world outside of the USA (often confused by locals for being "the world") that caused Apple to take stock of the situation. Imagine, for a moment, if Apple had ignored the noise. That might have given another manufacturer and OS the necessary leeway to steal the show from Apple.

As it happens, they didn't and the rest is history.

And so O2 benefited from that early day in the iPhone history - managing to hang on to the deal until at least the 3GS arrived, by which time anyone that reads a forum or the Interwebs knows that O2's 3G coverage is, at best, pathetic.

I think that where O2 score is in the goodwill capital that they have accumulated over the years. That and the bloody tent of theirs on the Greenwich peninsula. They have a very strong brand - but that will not let them survive the damage that their 3G network is going to cause, nor the awful off-shore customer services that they employ. A day or two's trawling of @O2 on Twitter is quite revealing .. Some typical Tweets follow


Wow, @o2 charged us £49 for going over 500mb 'fair usage' on an 'Unlimited' internet plan. Why the **** is it called unlimited. #o2suck

Just notice 3g was off on my iPhone since overseas trip a couple of weeks ago. Hadn't noticed as @O2 coverage so bad where I live.
I did that once, while on O2. I'd notice it immediately now that I'm on Vodafone!


Okay, so I thought my problems with @O2 were all sorted, but it would appear they've never actually given me the compensation they offered!!

@o2 why has the network in #Edinburgh been on it's knees for days? 3g seems completely broken in the Fettes area

@peebrains @O2 @VodafoneUK I agree completely. I've had a few replies from o2 but mainly my issues are ignored. (cont) http://tl.gd/rcl5u

@PartTimeLegend emailing @O2 is a waste of time. You just get a standard reply saying ring our premium number!!!! Errrr NO!

Dear @O2 I just cancelled my iPhone insurance because you made me jump through ridiculous hoops. Who owns a bloody fax machine these days?

[Ben]

Great tweets :D I honestly don't know why companies engage in social media, why make the inevitable sh*t storms so public? But that's beside the point.

Brand is definitely key for them. Unfortunately I now associate O2 with concerts, not mobile phones. I think it's all starting to get away from them. Perhaps their new owners will slowly pull a France Telecom :)