Tag: networks

It’s so funny, how we don’t talk anymore

It’s official, we’d rather not speak to each other. Head down, umbrella up, we’d rather use text and data than actually talk. The research, by Ofcom, reveals that 58% of people sent texts daily whilst 47% of people make a phone call every day. The average Brit sends …

Are you on the right plan?

Let’s be honest. Look at your phone. Did you get a good deal? Many people choose their phone based on a monthly budget, and want the phone for nothing up-front. For many it’s typical to pay around £36 a month for two years, but you can find yourself …

O2 and Voda to share network infrastructure

Telefónica UK (O2) and Vodafone UK are to begin “pooling” their two networks – both 900MHz – to create “one national grid running each operator’s independent spectrum.” They’re doing this partially to ensure that 4G coverage can be rolled out as quickly as possible, but also to improve …

The Olympic torch live – thanks to the mobile networks

So, this summer is going to be rather big here in the UK. The Queen is having a bit of a bash shortly and, in a couple of months, we’ll be hosting the ruddy Olympics. Before each Olympic torch is sold on eBay it actually gets held aloft …

Vodafone get an exclusive on the 32GB Samsung Galaxy SIII

Well yes, just as the people around me were talking about it, we’ve got confirmation that Vodafone will be carrying the all-new Samsung Galaxy SIII too. They’ve scored a bit of a coup here too, bagging the 32GB version as an exclusive from launch, but hey – they’ll …

Three bins the Business business

Looking for a business contract on Three? Move along please, there’s nothing to see. Three, according to Mobile News, have decided to stop taking on business customers to focus more on normal consumers instead. Dealer codes have been cancelled and business contracts will no longer be sold. According …

Tesco Tops Which? Satisfaction survey

It has been announced that Tesco Mobile has come top in Which? magazines annual Mobile Phone Satisfaction Survey for 2012. Beating competition from the big four providers, the supermarket was the only network to achieve a 5 star rating for cost. Tesco claim that this is due to …

Ofcom to make 0800 numbers free, even from mobile networks

Here in the UK you can dial an 0800 number and it’ll be free. However, it’s only free if you’re using a landline. If you’re using a mobile phone you suddenly become all special and the networks delight in adding a fee for you to call it. The …

Testing O2 LTE

I have arrived in London for the first day of O2 LTE 4G testing using a LTE modem kindly supplied by the network.  If you did not know, O2 have a test 4G network covering 40km distance in London and selected websites have been given a dongle to …

Virgin Media drop WiFi into the London Underground

Here in London there’s been a big push to try and get WiFi available in the Tube. London Mayor, Boris Johnson, and Transport For London have been linked with an earlier deal with Huawei. Unfortunately this didn’t see the light of day.. or should that be the dark …

Galaxy Note Now On Vodafone UK

Vodafone have today launched the Samsung Galaxy Note on their UK network.  Available online using the Vodafone Store you can get your own Note on various deals depending if you are a business or personal customer there is a plan for you starting from as little as £26 a …

Roaming Charges Set To Fall?

Whilst attending Mobile World Congress here in Barcelona we know too well about the expense of roaming data and to be able to use your phones outside of your home country. Thankfully this could all change!.  Why?, Read the information below and let out a little smile once …

Vodafone & Visa To Offer NFC

Vodafone and Visa have announced a deal to bring NFC to the masses this year using your smartphone.  Orange have been actively promoting NFC since joining Everything Everywhere group especially and now Vodafone are getting in on the game Full (and long) press release below…. Near Field Communication, or NFC …

Orange To Offer New Roaming Bundles

Orange have today sent out a press release with information on a new pricing scheme for roaming in the EU including access to a new smartphone application which will let you track your use when roaming, especially good when it comes to roaming data use!. Check below for …

O2 Coming Soon Page Updated

O2 have updated their coming soon page for the UK network and now show the Xperia S in March (we hope to be getting one tomorrow), the HTC One X, S and V all show as coming this April too. No word on any set availability or pricing …

The Plea To Three

As a mobile network here in the UK, Three are the most vocal when it comes to social media but not only do they communicate with customers online they take the feedback and use it in a positive way.  For example when The One Plan launched on a …

Motorola DEFY MINI announced

A new, smaller DEFY handset has just joined the Motorola portfolio. It’ll be launched at big event here I the UK hosted by Radio 1 DJ Mista Jam. It’s durable, water-resistant and has a Gorilla Glass scratch-proof screen. Specs include a 3.2″ screen, 3 megapixel camera at the …

The Full Monty – T-Mobile Statement

If you’ve followed our continued coverage of the T-Mobile supposed “cap” you’ll hopefully know the story by now. Basically, several customers were told that there was a 1Mb/s cap, then we were told that there wasn’t, but people continued to see their Full Monty speeds top out at …

On the Full Monty plan? Send us your speed tests!

OK, story so far. We picked up some tweets from the T-Mobile UK Help Team stating that “Full Monty Tariffs have a max speed of 1MB/s”. A day later, and T-Mobile told us that this was a mistake, but still we were getting sent phone calls where customers …

Speed. If we are getting throttled, is that a bad thing?

We’ve spoken quite a bit about speeds recently. Our recent news item surrounding possible throttling on T-Mobile data plans caused a lot of controversy. We were told shortly after that the information provided to us by various sources was incorrect. But, it got me thinking… In my article …

Changes afoot for Orange and T-Mobile brands

Since their merger in 2010 under the Everything Everywhere (EE) banner, Orange and T-Mobile seem to have been getting understandably closer as brands, with their network sharing and co-branded stores. Now EE are looking to distinguish the two, with their forthcoming marketing campaigns aiming to position each brand …

Ofcom plans to push 4G into more areas of the UK

Ofcom have had a re-think on their 4G auction. Earlier they were planning to reserve a slice of the new 800MHz spectrum (freed up by the removal of analogue TV) for Everything Everywhere. The joint network, which powers T-Mobile and Orange, operates on the 1800MHz spectrum for both …

Editorial – Windows Phone Communication Fail

Rather than updating the original blog post, Microsoft have spoken to ZDNet about the recent changes in how updates are delivered. It seems that there actually aren’t any changes, and everything is business is usual. Greg Sullivan, Senior Product Manager, has told Mary-Jo Foley that.. Nothing has changed …

Editorial – Microsoft hands power back to the networks?

I’m worried, and I’ll tell you why. Back in 2002 Microsoft emailed me after reading some of the stuff I’d put on the web. The first Microsoft Smartphones were hitting the market and I’d added some critical but constructive posted about it. They respected this, and they wanted …

Expansys offer up the XXSIM

Remember that XXSIM review we did ? Well, despite the sound of the it these SIM cards are ideal for the seasoned traveller and holidaymaker alike. It offers free incoming calls in over 122 countries and slashes the cost of outbound calls. So what’s new ? Well, now …

Nokia Lumia 800 finally lands on O2

Welcome to the party O2. You’re a tad late, but if you’ve brought some champagne we’ll let you in. Yep, a number of weeks after the other networks added it, O2 have finally plonked the new Nokia Windows Phone on their site. We’ll have a thorough review of …

Orange Increase Contract Charges By 4.3%

In a move which will annoy a lot of people, especially those who this is relevant too, Orange have announced they are to increase monthly prices by 4.3% starting in January 2012 it has been said over at Mobile Today. ‘Unfortunately, we’ve had to re-evaluate our prices for the first time …

Three Agree To Stock Sensation XE

Who says people power does not matter!.  Earlier today just before AskThree kicked off on Twitter, Three announced that due to popular demand they WILL now be selling the Sensation XE from HTC. Don’t forget to check our review of the HTC Sensation XE if you’re thinking about buying this …

Where not to make a call

Remember the BBC Coverage survey? The stats were obtained after several thousand phones ran an app to check on signal strength. After all the results came in we got an interactive map to show what the coverage is like throughout the UK. But hey, wouldn’t it be good …

Travel SIMs – XXSIM offers free incoming calls

We all know the story by now. You go abroad, you use your mobile, then you come home and collapse in shock when the bill arrives. If you’ve got an unlocked handset there are ways around the “roaming shock” by using roaming or travel SIM cards. There’s a …

Orange refresh their SIM-only plans

Orange have just polished up their SIM-only plans and have added a new SIM-only Panther deal. There’s a 12 month Dolphin deal costing £7 per month and includes 150 minutes, 500 texts and 250MB of data which is available for a limited time. That headline Panther deal includes …

Test out your data usage with Vodafone

Vodafone have changed the way that they charge for data. They’ve introduced a new “Data Test Drive” which let you buy a smartphone and use the web as much as you want for the first 3 months of your contract. During these first few months there’ll be no …

BBC Coverage Survey – The results are in

Last month the BBC launched a survey to try and find the actual mobile coverage in the UK. To take part you simply needed to download an Android application and use your phone as normal. The app then logged whether you were on a 3G or 2G connection …

Battery life – the networks fault?

  One of the most complained about things on modern smartphones, is their battery life – and quite rightly. After years of getting us used to increasing battery life on phones, smartphones came along and we all had to get used to charging our phones once or more …

Have you spotted a hidden mobile phone mast ?

Many moons ago we ran a story showing how mobile phone masts are disguised. Three were using several techniques to hide their kit and still are. Currently they have nearly 12,700 sites around the UK but their high frequency 3G spectrum can have problems penetrating buildings. The recent …

Yes, it’s official. Truly unlimited data comes to T-Mobile

Following our earlier story we can now announce the official details of the T-mobile “truly unlimited internet” deals for UK customers. From July 1st until September 30th you can enjoy the “truly unlimited” internet on 24 month price plans costing £25.54 per month. You’ll be able to get …

Moto Defy FroYo update coming to T-Mobile

T-Mobile have just confirmed via Twitter that the Motorola Defy is due to get Android 2.2 in a matter of days. We gave the water-resistant device a full review in January and even dumped it in the sink. It has an 800MHz CPU, DLNA, aGPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, 3.5mm …

Vodafone increase Pay As You Go prices

In a couple of weeks Vodafone will be changing the prices for their Pay As You Go plans. The costs for those on the “Simply” price plan will be increasing, with calls to UK landlines, mobiles and your voicemail costing 25p per minute instead of 21p. Texts will …

Have you switched to an MVNO ?

OK, so after finding out that most of you still wear a watch we wanted to ask you another question. MVNO’s, or “Mobile virtual network operators”, piggy-back off one of the “major” networks and have been gained popularity over the last few years. Most people will be aware …

HTC Sensation now selling on Three

There’s been a bit of a wait since the announcement, but the HTC Sensation is now available to buy on Three. Brendan has been out and about to film a hands-on video of the device .. The Sensation was announced back in April and we have the full …