Orange and T-Mobile have been sent to the doghouse, as it’s revealed that they are the two most complained-about networks in the UK.
Ofcom’s latest report into the nation’s service providers puts Orange as the network that’s least popular with customers in the last three months of 2012, something that the communications watchdog blames on the operator’s decision to withdraw its offer of free broadband.
Forcing customers to start paying line rental also put Orange on top of the broadband complaints list for the second quarter running, with the number of complaints per 1,000 customers rising since July-September last year.
Ofcom says that unhappiness with T-Mobile’s monthly mobile service largely stems from billing woes, and customers that are unhappy with how complaints are handled. T-Mobile generated more complaints to Ofcom in the last three months of 2012 than it did in the July-September 2012 period, when it beat Orange to be the most-complained-about operator.
Orange and T-Mobile are part of EE, the umbrella network that recently launched the UK’s first 4G network. Speedy mobile data is nothing to be sniffed at, but I’m sure many phone owners would rather see networks focusing on keeping customers happy.
In other highlights and lowlights news, TalkTalk is the landline company least popular with paying customers. Th good news is that despite generating more bile among buyers than Sky, Virgin Media and BT, the number of TalkTalk complaints has fallen steadily since the last few months of 2011.
While these figures don’t necessarily represent enormous numbers of complaints, they provide a good overview of the industry, and which providers are keeping their customers happy. In the period that Orange topped the list, O2 was the operator that generated the fewest complaints, followed by Virgin Mobile and Vodafone.
Are you happy with the network providing your telephonic kicks? Or would you rather give your operator the boot? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.
Google’s device line could end up having a particularly important moment in 2023. The company usually announces new Pixel products throughout the year. Google is expected to release its first foldable phone this year, however, which would directly compete with Samsung’s proven line of Galaxy Z Fold devices. Google also introduced its own ChatGPT rival, …
Orange and T-Mobile are bilking customers yet again with a new round of price increases to your monthly bill. The two networks merged under the name EE are hiking prices, but there’s no way to get out of your contract in protest.
Orange will charge you 3.3 per cent extra on your contract, unless you joined recently or you have a SIM-only contract because you bought your phone separately.
Customers on business contracts are also unaffected.
It’s only contracts that are subject to price hikes. The cost of a call, text and bundle stay the same. There are no changes to EE’s 4G prices — but they’re high enough already, amirite?
“Due to inflation, which directly affects the costs of running our business, we’ve had to re-evaluate our prices and introduce an increase,” says Orange.
So if you currently have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and a monthly bill of £36 with Orange, you’ll be stung for £37.16 per month from next month. On a £51 deal, the price increase adds an extra £1.64.
If you’re on Orange, the price hike takes effect on 10 April. On T-Mobile the increase kicks in on 9 May.
If all this sounds familiar, it’s because both Orange and T-Mobile hoiked their prices up last year. They’re allowed to jack you up once a year by the same amount as the Retail Price Index, and you can’t cancel your contract without paying the remainder — although Ofcom is considering clamping down on that particular wheeze.
EE does offer a service to fix your bill, but only by paying extra: Fix Your Monthly Plan costs between 50p and £2 more on your monthly bill, depending on your tariff. Cheers guys.
Are Orange and T-Mobile ‘avin’ a giraffe, or is the service still good value? What’s your top tip when it comes to paying for your phone? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
As if 4G wasn’t complicated enough, Orange and T-Mobile are planning to create a new brand name for its next-generation data network coming later this year.
Orange and T-Mobile’s parent company Everything Everywhere denies it will merge Orange and T-Mobile, telling us that instead “we are planning to launch a new brand in the UK later this year. This new brand will sit alongside our existing brands Orange and T-Mobile.”
It’s bad enough we’ve had to get used to the awful name Everything Everywhere without throwing yet another brand name into the pot. Whatever it’s called, the 4G network will use portions of Orange and T-Mobile’s existing airwaves for LTE, which will speed up data to your phone and reach a wider audience than the current 3G network.
Vodafone, O2 and Three are up in arms about the plan, with Vodafone telling us Ofcom’s decision is “shocking” and “bizarre”. No wonder they’re annoyed: the other networks have to wait until Ofcom auctions off earmarked 4G spectrum later this year before they can fire up their own 4G networks in 2013.
One big advantage of Orange and T-Mobile’s head start is that they’re first in line if the iPhone 5 turns out to pack 4G, as widely expected. The new iPad connects with LTE in the US, suggesting the next iPhone will as well — but different countries use different frequencies, so a 4G phone in one country may not be 4G in another.
Apple tends to build one phone for the whole world rather than putting in different chips for different countries, but the 1800MHz spectrum to be used by Everything Everywhere is also used for 4G in Australia, Asia and Europe — which means Apple is more likely to include support for that frequency, perhaps using one of Qualcomm’s chips that plays nice with multiple bands.
If not, we’d be stuck with speeds akin to the new iPad — check out our guide to data on the new iPad in the UK for more information.
Meanwhile Everything Everywhere has announced an agreement with Three to sell a portion of 1800MHz spectrum to the network, doubling Three’s capacity. The sale was required by European merger watchdogs.
Is 4G already too confusing? Should Orange, T-Mobile or Everything Everywhere brand names be ditched? And will the iPhone 5 be 4G? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
Orange and T-Mobile are confident they will be able to launch 4G mobile services in the UK this year, despite fierce opposition from rival operators who don’t want them getting a 4G head start.
The launch of 4G services in the UK has been long delayed thanks to spectrum squabbles as operators seek to protect their existing businesses and jockey for the choicest positions in the 4G world order.
But Everything Everywhere — the parent company of Orange and T-Mobile, which are conjoined in a UK joint venture — believes it will get the green light from Ofcom to reuse its 2G spectrum for 4G services. This would mean that instead of having to wait for next year’s spectrum auction before launching 4G, Everything Everywhere could get faster speeds on the go this year.
Dave Salem, director of network strategy, architecture and design at Everything Everywhere, described himself as “fairly confident” Ofcom will give the green light for reusing 2G airwaves for 4G. The regulator is due to make a decision this summer.
‘No, you can’t have 4G’
“I would personally find it very strange for the government to stand up and say ‘no, you can’t have the next generation of mobile broadband’ when they’ve been absolutely championing broadband rollout for years,” said Salem, speaking at a press briefing in London today.
“It’s hard to see any reason why [Ofcom won’t support 2G reuse],” he added, noting that “when” this permission is granted, Everything Everywhere will be “very supportive of the timelines for the main [spectrum] auction”.
Currently the UK is a 4G laggard compared to the US and other countries such as Sweden, which have already rolled out LTE (or Long Term Evolution) networks — the next generation of mobile technology that is colloquially known as 4G.
In a nutshell, the objection of Everything Everywhere’s rivals is that letting them reuse existing airwaves to launch 4G gives them a head start and creates a de facto monopoly, reducing competition for consumers.
‘They’ve chosen not to champion 4G’
However, Everything Everywhere’s Salem claimed Vodafone and O2 have had “opportunities” to reuse their own 2G spectrum — but “have absolutely chosen not to”.
“They’ve chosen not to champion 4G at this stage. It’s a choice, it’s a choice,” he emphasises. “We have many proof points of how they could have used their existing spectrum they already own today to run a 4G service to the UK. And the 900MHz spectrum they do have actually was ahead of the spectrum we’re using in terms of devices, equipment, they just chose not to do it. They’ve chosen to invest or reuse that spectrum for 3G.”
Asked to comment on Everything Everywhere’s claim, an O2 spokesperson supplied the following statement: “Everything Everywhere say we can ask to liberalise our own 900 spectrum for 4G but, as they know, there are no devices compatible with 4G on that band. There is so little 900 spectrum in Europe that it doesn’t make commercial sense for the manufacturers to build the handsets to support it. And that is not going to change.”
Everything Everywhere countered this claim by saying that operators are in the business of creating device ecosystems, for which they need to build and maintain relationships with device makers. Therefore if there are no 4G devices in the 900MHz spectrum band that’s O2 and Vodafone’s own failing.
“It’s about creating an ecosystem,” said Tom Bennett, director of network services and devices development. “The chipsets have supported 900MHz for a good year. As an operator you have a relationship with a vendor — you go to Samsung or HTC and you say, ‘Are you going to assemble devices? I’ll make it worth your while.’ You create the market.
“It’s about commitment. You’re talking about Telefonica [O2’s parent company] and Vodafone, they’re not minnows,” added Salem.
Bennett said creating a compatible device ecosystem would probably take around nine to 12 months — and it’s something that O2 and Vodafone could have started doing a year ago when the chipsets arrived. “The argument would be as they sat there and looked at their investment programme for 2012 at the turn of last year, why didn’t they make that choice then? They could have.”
At the time of writing, Vodafone had not responded to a request for comment.
100Mbps? Don’t hold your breath
Exactly when this year Everything Everywhere could get a 4G service up and running — if it does get an Ofcom greenlight next month — is unclear. While the company wants to be first, it’s also keen not to be stung by a ‘4G isn’t as fast as I thought it would be’ backlash.
James Hattam, director of network service management, noted that while it could quickly launch what might technically be a 4G service, it wants to ensure it lives up to mobile users’ expectations — which presumably means making time for a lot of carefully worded marketing material to prepare the ground ahead of the launch.
In December last year, Everything Everywhere kicked off a £1.5bn, three-year network investment programme aimed at refreshing ageing network kit — some of which was as long in the telecoms tooth as 18 years old. Making this infrastructure ‘4G ready’ was a priority, said Hattam.
“We have a very, very quick activation path of 4G,” he said. “Every time we touch the network we’re making it 4G ready.”
So much for the technical side. But managing customers’ expectations is another matter.
“This comes down to setting the right expectations for customers,” said Hattam. “There’s been quite a bit of hype around 4G, saying it’s going to be all singing, all dancing, very fast. We can do some stuff on the radio network to give you a 4G signal and if you had a 4G device you could say ‘I’ve got 4G’.
“But if the experience doesn’t live up to your expectations then you’re going to be disappointed, so it’s about making sure you’ve got everything else in line with it, before we actively go and do the activation.”
4G headline speeds certainly sound misleading — with those oft mentioned theoretical maximums in the double and even triple figures. In truth, real world speed bumps are likely to be far more modest than 100Mbps.
Everything Everywhere said people on its Cornish 4G trial are achieving speeds indoors of 8Mbps, or 6Mbps towards the edge of a cell site’s coverage area. So it’s not going to make fixed-line broadband obsolete just yet.
Discussing what to expect from 4G services, Salem said speeds will certainly go up, but mobile devices will also become more interactive — with slicker access to cloud services and apps, more powerful online gaming and even HD video streaming.
Video apps such as FaceTime, currently restricted to Wi-Fi, should also be able to make the hop to 4G networks.
“Video’s driving a lot of the growth that we see at the moment,” said Salem. “A lot of the applications, a lot of the Internet is now switching towards video and people want that video on demand. 4G will be the real enabler for bringing that through, and really starting to bring that to life.
“I would like to drive 4G hard,” he added. “I think the country’s ready for it, the country wants it.”
Update 23 May: Vodafone has now provided CNET UK with the following statement: “The regulator has always stressed that competition is in the best interests of consumers and the British economy; a view we share and support. We can’t then understand why Ofcom would ignore the overwhelming evidence that giving Everything Everywhere a head start could seriously undermine competition in the UK market.
“Put simply, why is it that the French and German runners should be allowed to start the 4G race whilst the British runner is still chained to the starting blocks? Is that what we can expect at the forthcoming Olympics?
“Vodafone UK strongly believes that a competitive market in 4G services will bring benefits to Britain as a whole and we are very excited about providing them. However, we also believe that it’s only when all runners are able to line up together, that the greatest benefits for consumers and the economy can be won.”
Regulator Ofcom has extended the time for networks to register their opposition to Orange and T-Mobile’s plan to create a 4G network, which would see them pip their rivals as they sit in wait for the government’s 4G spectrum sell-off.
The pair merged to form Everything Everywhere in 2011, and in sharing their network, they’ve freed up a load of radio waves in the 1,800MHz spectrum. Everything Everywoo wants to use that spectrum for 4G transmission, giving Orange and T-Mobile a headstart in the 4G race. In fact, they’ll be the only game in town until Ofcom auctions off 4G spectrum to the other networks next year.
The telecoms watchdog has pushed back its decision on the company’s proposed 4G network,
giving rival phone firms more time to challenge the plan. Opponents
of Orange and T-Mobile can get all mardy with Ofcom until 8 May, an
extra few weeks on top of the original 17 April deadline.
Three reckons it should have a portion of the spectrum reserved so it has a fair shake in the auction. But even if that happens, Three and the other networks will still be left in the dust if Everytalkie Everywalkie gets its way.
There’s also controversy over the very use of the term ‘4G’. It’s been applied willy-nilly to any connection technology faster than 3G, but technically none of them count as official 4G. The new iPad has been criticised for advertising itself as 4G in countries that don’t have 4G networks the iPad can use, like Australia and good old Blighty.
In fact, if we’re really splitting hairs, the WiMax and LTE networks billed as 4G in the US aren’t technically 4G either. Confused.com!
Whatever we call it, improved web-connecting speeds can only be a good thing for consumers, especially as other countries are leaving us behind on mobile data speeds. So here at CNET, we want to see these unseemly squabbles wrapped up before someone grazes a knee and goes home crying. With the current delay, Ofcom has bought itself some time to think of a way to avoid the embarassment of a further delay due to legal challenges.
Are you frustrated by the network quibbling over 4G? Should Everything Everywhere be allowed to carve out a monopoly before spectrum auction? Why can’t everybody just get along? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook wall.
Orange and T-Mobile promise to give your phone a speed boost with the launch of 4G before the end of this year. The two networks, united under the Everything Everywhere banner, promise more LTE 4G trials and massively extended HSPA+ coverage.
Everything Everywhere is the new name for T-Mobile and Orange merged
into the UK’s biggest phone network. The folks at Everything Everywhere claim HSPA+ 21 technology will speed up your phone by 50 per cent in the run-up to a proper 4G launch, as well as doubling the speed at which you can upload stuff like photos.
HSPA+ 21 offers up to 21Mbps, although that’s a theoretical maximum and actual speeds vary depending on conditions. Before the end of the year even faster HSPA+ 42 will also be available to Orange and T-Mobile customers.
4G trials will continue through the year. Everything Everywhere is starting a 4G trial of LTE over the 1800MHz frequency in April, which builds on the 800MHz trial currently running in Cornwall.
LTE is the next generation of Internet connection when you’re out and about. Technically LTE isn’t exactly 4G, but it’s significantly faster than 3G so the term 4G seems to have stuck.
4G noticably speeds up even everyday tasks like sending emails, as well as giving your phone’s Web browser a serious kick in the pants. Even better, 4G coverage is wider than 3G because the signals beam across the country at a lower frequency, meaning they travel further — so as well as speeding up your phone, 4G will ensure you get a signal where you would previously have struggled to find those precious bars.
4G may even replace cables as the Internet access method of choice in rural areas where broadband has yet to go. Click play on our video to find out how 4G has changed people’s lives during the trial.
Personally, I’m excited to finally have a crack at those mouthwatering 4G phones launched in the US that so far haven’t made it across the pond.
If regulators give Everything Everywhere’s plan the green light, the network claims it will launch 4G before the end of this year. A proper 4G network has so far been held up by legal squabblings among the networks over which portions of the spectrum would be allocated to which company, but telecoms regulator Ofcom has recently rethought those plans to try and speed things up.
Are you excited about 4G? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
Orange and T-Mobile customers are about to get a 3G signal boost, as the two companies begin sharing their data network.
Orange and T-Mobile recently merged to form the confusingly named Everything Everywhere. They’re keeping the two separate names, for some reason, but all 27 million customers of the two companies will be able to use each others’ network.
During the ‘big switch-on’ last year, Orange and T-Mobile customers were able to use both networks to make phone calls and send texts. Up until now you’ve been limited to your own network’s 3G coverage, but that will change from next week with the ‘big 3G switch-on’.
In theory, that should mean that your 3G coverage improves while you’re out and about. The BBC recently discovered that 3G coverage in the UK ain’t that great.
There’s no charge to use the other network’s signal — you won’t even notice it’s happening, as your phone automatically connects to whatever signal is available, with the minimum of fuss.
As well as extending the 3G coverage available for customers, Everything Everywhere plans to make improvements to the phone system for calls and text.
The 3G sharing starts next week, and will reach new regions across the UK over the next few months.
Are you an Orange or T-Mobile customer? Has your signal improved since the merger? Are you in a 3G blackspot and can’t wait for some extra signal-sharing? Signal your thoughts in the comments below or on our Facebook page.
T-Mobile and Orange shops are to be renamed and rejigged to Everything Everywhere — but shops will continue to sell Orange and T-Mobile phones and deals separately. Which made us slap our forehead so hard we actually blacked out for a minute.
The newly crowned largest mobile operator in Britain has tried the Everything Everywhere brand in six shops, which went so well that more existing Orange and T-Mobile shops will get a new sign on the front. There’ll be another 30 by the end of the year.
Everything Everywhere boss Simon Day told New Media Age the Orange and T-Mobile brands “will remain separate within the stores and in our communications”.
That’s such a staggeringly stupid idea we can’t believe it’s real. The only possible explanation is that the T-Mobile and Orange bosses still don’t know each other that well and meetings are still a bit weird and someone suggested this to break an awkward silence, and everyone just nodded politely even though they all know it’s a really, really awful idea.
Nobody knows what Everything Everywhere is. Nobody cares what Everything Everywhere is. The company’s 27m customers know they’re on T-Mobile or Orange, but now they’re the same company, but they still have different names, and… wait, what?
The bods at Everything Everywhere want to be one company, but don’t want to give up on the years of brand recognition built up by Orange and T-Mobile. But look, you didn’t see Marathons and Snickers sold side by side in a shop called Everychocolate Everypeanut, did you? They just changed the name and made sure everyone knew about it. Everything Everywhere needs to bite the bullet and change the names completely.
Preferably to something other than Everything Everywhere, obviously.
Oh, and Everything Everywhere won’t sell other operators’ phones, such as Virgin Mobile. By selling two networks’ phones under an apparently generic brand, Everything Everywhere could look to customers like a neutral shop, giving them a wide choice — like Carphone Warehouse or Phones4U — when in fact they’re restricted to just the two networks.
Nor will the shops sell cutlery, pets, paperclips or anti-tank missiles — so they don’t sell Everything at all, do they? Gnnh.
The rebranding does mean that high streets currently blessed with both a T-Mobile and an Orange shop will find themselves with one less phone shop, as the merger of the two networks leads to swingeing cuts across the new company. Hey, one less phone shop on the high street — if you’re lucky you’ll get another blinking Pret.
Are we being too harsh on Everything Everywhere? Are you an Orange or T-Mobile customer, and have you been kept abreast of the changes? Tell us everything everywhere in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.
Orange customers will be able to roam onto T-Mobile’s network, and vice versa, from 5 October.
According to Reuters, Orange and T-Mobile users will be able to switch networks whenever they have a low signal. The system will be tested until early 2011, when switching will become automatic.
The network-sharing agreement is the result of a link-up between Orange and T-Mobile earlier in the year, merging under the name ‘Everything Everywhere’. The two companies now jointly represent the largest mobile group, ahead of Telefonica’s O2 and Vodafone. You’ll still see Orange and T-Mobile shops, though, as the brands will be kept.
The reason behind the network-sharing agreement is that Everything Everywhere wants its network quality to be as good as possible, as more and more of people use mobile Web services. Everything Everywhere has also claimed that, in the future, you’ll be able to switch from mobile to fixed to Wi-Fi networks without noticing.
Orange has been busy of late. It’s also decided to enhance its pay-as-you-go ‘animal’ tariffs by providing better rewards when you top up. Those on the ‘monkey’ tariff will now only have to top up £5 to earn their free-text and Internet-access reward; ‘camel’ customers will receive free international calling minutes when topping up £10 a month; and there’s now a 12p-per-minute call rate for those on the ‘raccoon’ tariff, Orange’s lowest flat rate. You can read more details on Orange’s website.
Last week, Orange also announced plans to introduce high-definition voice calling for selected mobiles. We wondered how many people were actually going to be able to access this service, but it would be no surprise if T-Mobile customers were able to use the same technology in the future.
All energy and matter, in this universe and every other, is now part of T-Mobile and Orange’s merger — if you believe the mobile company’s bombastic new name: ‘Everything Everywhere’.
The company’s pursuit of total ubiquity starts on 1 July, when all 16,500 UK employees of Orange and T-Mobile will officially become minions of the new omnipresence. That is, until some of them are made redundant.
The Orange and T-Mobile brands will still be around, so you won’t see the name Everything Everywhere taking up your phone’s whole screen. But you will get the advantage of a combined network that will offer users more coverage.
The company says T-Mobile and Orange customers will start seeing changes later this year, with free roaming across both networks. T-Mobile pink and Orange orange clash like the titans, so happily we won’t see a horrific hybrid logo. High-street stores for the two brands will stay separate, as will their adverts.
The man with the best job title in the world is Tom Alexander, chief executive of Everything Everywhere. He told Reuters that Orange would emphasise its “premium element”, while T-Mobile would focus on its “straightforward, value-orientated appeal”.
