4G Trials
 

Interesting article re 4G:

http://www.reghardware.com/2012/02/23/virgin_4g_trials/

Re: 4G Trials
 

Grr. More G-bloat.

If it can't do a gigabit it ain't 4G.

(I have no objections to the POC trial though, wide use of more 3G micro and and femto sites are exactly what we need, but they're still 3G. Just cause you stuck it on a different frequency does not make it OK to +1G.)

Re: 4G Trials
 

Sourpuss lol :p:

Re: 4G Trials
 

Meh. If you go by "their" definition I've been testing 4G networks for years.

Re: 4G Trials
 

Didn't NTL attempt to do 3G before but BT jumped in and got there before them, I wouldn't mind but BT didn't even keep O2 they got rid of it. Back then was different though, the NTL group operated NTL Broadcast and had something to do with France Telecom(Orange).

If Virgin Media goes ahead with its 4G plans, would it mean it would have a network of its own for 4G Mobile phone and Mobile Broadband customers to use as well as virtual networks?

Re: 4G Trials
 

P.S. In a related story, VM want to become the fabled "4th operator" and bid for their own wireless 4G spectrum later this year.

This is a Really Big Thing™ (in the mobile industry). It's been ten years since we last had a new mobile operator in this country.

Scary thing is, they might actually succeed.

Re: 4G Trials
 

Well it could be worse, think of the Cable and Wireless days of One2one or the early days of 3.

Virgin Media doing 4G will be interesting but maybe successful as it has at least 2 million mobile phone customers already and it will give Virgin Mobile something to compete with.

Re: 4G Trials
 

Never had a problem with One2one or 3 - in fact I went with 3 as they had the best coverage back in the day, with O2 backup. In the final days of One2One they had a habit of installing new transmitters with their power turned up to the max, which had some... ehm... interesting effects.

I think they're seeing it as a way to leverage more of their core network during the day - something they've already said is underutilized and they're trying to suck more money out of via any method possible.

Re: 4G Trials
 

Three, somehow, have worse customer services than VM. The only English staff they have are in Sales, so you either get them when signing up or a year after you have left them when they cold call you trying to get you back. Even their retentions are offshored, so when trying to leave you get taken around the houses via Steve and his script before you can get your PAC.

And their indoor signal strength is atrocious. I never managed to get a 3G signal indoors unless I was by a window so I left them as quickly as I could and have been fine with O2 in the exact same places with the same phone. And speaking to O2 on the phone is great.

I guess if VM do actually become a proper operator then it could be interesting. Its a very competitive market and they would have to set themselves apart from the others (and hopefully not by being worse than them).

Re: 4G Trials
 

Funny that, as my experience has been the exact opposite. Except with sales and retentions, which you really need to be in the right mindset to deal with, all other departments have always been helpful and actually understood and solved my problem even when I wouldn't have expected them to. Miles better than most other offshore call centres and beat a good proportion of UK based ones too. But that's just my personal experience.

As for signal strength, back when they used O2 coverage their indoor signal strength would by definition be the exact same, if not better but getting worse would be impossible. Since they moved onto Orange, well, it's been better in some areas and worse in others, but it was really when they switched off roaming completely that I started having problems. When it comes down to it though, their 3G coverage and service is still well better than everyone but O2 - and it was only recently O2 even entered the game with their 900Mhz 3G rollout. But even that's seeing pretty heavy congestion with all iphone users sucking on it's single 5Mhz channel. And so far I've yet to see it expand very far outside of urban areas, as they're mainly using it for building penetration and capacity offload. Shame really, as wide-area rural coverage is where 900Mhz 3G could really excel.

VM, as is known so far, is unlikely to have any intention of building a new nationwide network, and is far more likely to only buy up the high-capacity, low-coverage 2.6Ghz band and provide offload coverage in dense (i.e. urban) areas. Or that's what the industry analysts seem to think anyway. I personally don't see the point.

Re: 4G Trials
 

If Virgin lanuch their own 4G network, not only will their cusotmers will get faster intenet, but they can no longer depend on Everything Everywhere for their mobile network!

Re: 4G Trials
 

Once again wrong, as there is little chance of them building a national network and will continue to rely on EE for mobile coverage outside of the limited "4G" areas.