The Orange and T-Mobile networks will merge on October 5th but, due to the amount of handsets, you’ll at first have to sign-up to be part of the new shared network. This, we presume, is because some phones may have been heavily tested for T-Mobile but not for Orange and vice-versa.
We covered the announcement last week but now there’s an official press release from the new merged company – Everything Everywhere. If you’re an Orange user you can click here to sign up to the new shared network. Just put your number in and off you go. If you’re a T-Mobile customer, click this link and it’ll do the same.
The announcement states that..
“30 million customers will be offered the opportunity to access both networks, enabling them to make calls and send texts in more places in the UK for no extra cost.
Customers who sign up for access to both networks will benefit free of charge, with no changes to their existing tariffs or call or text charges. Once registered, should a customer lose signal on their existing network, they will then automatically pick up the signal from the other network where it’s available, meaning that they can make and receive calls and texts in more places than ever before. ”
This pretty much good news all round from what we can see.
Update – At the moment it’s 2G, so voice and text.. will work over the shared network. The 3G data connectivity will be shared at some point in 2011.
Link – Everything Everywhere
UK’S BIGGEST MOBILE COVERAGE BOOST ENABLES 30 MILLION PEOPLE TO USE PHONES IN MORE PLACES THAN EVER BEFORE
Orange and T-Mobile to offer customers access to both networks at no extra cost as first benefit of newly merged company Everything Everywhere
– Orange and T-Mobile customers invited to sign-up to get access to both networks to make calls and send texts in more places at no extra cost
– Billions of pounds of network infrastructure investment now instantly available to Orange and T-Mobile customers
– CEO Tom Alexander outlines vision for a ‘multinet’ future, combining mobile, wifi and fixed technologies to deliver an unrivalled experience for consumers
London, 6 September 2010: Everything Everywhere, the UK’s biggest communications company, today announced the first consumer benefit of the merger between Orange and T-Mobile, opening up its two mobile networks to customers of both brands. Available to almost half of the UK population, the move marks the start of the single, biggest improvement of network coverage since the birth of mobile.
From 5th October, 30 million customers “ the combined customer base of Orange and
T-Mobile in the UK – will be offered the opportunity to access both networks, enabling them to make calls and send texts in more places in the UK for no extra cost.
Tom Alexander, CEO of Everything Everywhere “ the company that runs Orange and T-Mobile – said: “This is the beginning of an ambitious plan to give our customers instant access to whatever they want, wherever they are – instant access to everything everywhere.
“From next month, we will give almost half of the British population the opportunity to use their phones in more places than ever before. As well as continuing to benefit from their existing network, Orange customers will be able to make calls and send texts on the T-Mobile network and T-Mobile customers will be able to do the same using the Orange network. This is the first major consumer benefit of the merger between Orange and T-Mobile, and it delivers an unrivalled and unique experience that no other operator can offer.
“Until now, the industry has been working in a single network environment. We have a vision of a ˜multinet’ world where the consumer will be able to access what they want, when they want, at the touch of a button. It will all be possible due to a complex system of interweaving multiple networks, bringing mobile, wifi and fixed technologies together to act as a super network.�“
Customers who sign up for access to both networks will benefit free of charge, with no changes to their existing tariffs or call or text charges. Once registered, should a customer lose signal on their existing network, they will then automatically pick up the signal from the other network where it’s available, meaning that they can make and receive calls and texts in more places than ever before.
Everything Everywhere’s ambition is to provide all Orange and T-Mobile customers with the best network experience in the UK, with the best network capacity, reach, speeds and coverage available.
Next year customers can expect benefits such as automatically switching to whichever of the two networks has the strongest signal while they’re mid-call, and enhanced data and internet coverage.
Customers from either network who want to sign up to benefit from the initial network improvements should register their interest at either www.t-mobile.co.uk/share or www.orange.co.uk/share. Mobile customers including pay as you go, pay monthly and business can sign-up to enjoy the benefits of access to both mobile networks.