What's your favorite network and why?

N90user

IMO-

O2 - Alright coverage, alright prices

Vodafone- Good coverage, over the average prices

Meteor- ok coverage, good prices

ThreeIreland- good coverage-Alright prices


Thats imo and i have a sim card for every network , but i use vodafone the most as i actually use the 3G videocalls etc.

What about yours and why?

hiscan

im with vodafone ,i dont think there is much difference in price between any of the networks its like buying a new car or getting insurance its a cartel
but i do get an upgrade to a new phone every 9 or 10 months with vodafone

cooperguy

Im afraid ill have to correct both posters above me!!! N90user, meteors coverage is good because they use the O2 network where ever they dont have coverage.

hiscan, there is some huge differences in price between the networks. Vodafone is much more expensive than meteor for example.

*edit* Your right they do use the O2 network I just got myself confused when I wrote the post!!!

county

only ever been with vodafone so i cant really comment

Lord diablo

meteors coverage is just as good as vodafones now because they use vodafones network

not true mate Meteor use o2 and 3 ireland use Vodafone, at the mo voda and o2 would be very similar prices (priceplans wise) however o2 would have beter phone prices. Meteor are going to blow everyone away soon with eircom after buying them over now, and they will be opening a lot of their own stores soon. Also 3 ireland are going to be opening there own stores soon (about 20 or so) so the market is going to be like uk very soon. There they have 4 major networks ( o2 voda t-mobile and orange) and they rent there amsts out to smaller companies so there is loads of choice there.


should be interesting soon!!!

Blaster99

I don't know how anyone can reach the conclusion that Meteor is cheaper than 3. 3 is about half the price of any other operator in Ireland for calls. I moved from O2 to 3 and my bill is indeed about half of what is used to be and I'm making more calls now. Coverage has not been an issue for me.

Sam Vimes

N90user wrote:

IMO-

O2 - Alright coverage, alright prices

Vodafone- Good coverage, over the average prices

Meteor-below average coverage, good prices

ThreeIreland- Low coverage-Alright prices


Thats imo and i have a sim card for every network , but i use vodafone the most as i actually use the 3G videocalls etc.

What about yours and why?

3 has 100% coverage for calls and texts and has wider 3g coverage than vodafone. since they're using vodaonfe's coverage wherever they don't have their own they have exactly the same if not better coverage than voda

also for bill pay, 3 is undeniably the cheapest by far. there is no "opinion" on the matter, they're just cheaper. you don't seem to know much about them since both of the statements you made about them are incorrect

600 minutes with voda: €99

600 minutes with meteor:€90

600 minutes with o2 : €85 (special active life 500 tariff where you replace the 250 texts with an extra 100 mins)

600 minutes with 3: €60
1000 minutes with 3: €100




for bill pay the networks go in this order:
3
meteor
o2
voda

in some ways o2 can be better than meteor for bill but o2 is just wishy washy and middle of the road. i'd be prepared to say o2 is better than meteor on bill because meteor has atrocious roaming policies and the coverage can still occasionally be an issue albeit very rarely. and lets just say their customer care are "poorly trained". o2's CS are very good


for payg they go in this order:
meteor














o2
voda
if you're on payg there is no valid reason not to be on metoer unless you don't like all that heavy money weighing your pockets down



meteor payg can be cheaper than 3 but only if you call over 80% to 90% meteor numbers

Sam Vimes

hiscan wrote:

im with vodafone ,i dont think there is much difference in price between any of the networks its like buying a new car or getting insurance its a cartel
but i do get an upgrade to a new phone every 9 or 10 months with vodafone

opinions like that are the reason vodafone can get away with charging what they do.

instead of 29 euro for 100 mins, switch to 3 and get 200 for 25

1huge1

N90user wrote:

IMO-

O2 - Alright coverage, alright prices

Vodafone- Good coverage, over the average prices

Meteor-below average coverage, good prices

ThreeIreland- Low coverage-Alright prices


Thats imo and i have a sim card for every network , but i use vodafone the most as i actually use the 3G videocalls etc.

What about yours and why?

you are very mistakes about 3
they have the same 2.5G signal as vodafone and have by far the most 3G signal and for their prices well see for yourself and all the free things they offer online

Sam Vimes

Lord diablo wrote:

meteors coverage is just as good as vodafones now because they use vodafones network

not true mate Meteor use o2 and 3 ireland use Vodafone. Meteor are going to blow everyone away soon with eircom after buying them over now, and they will be opening a lot of their own stores soon. Also 3 ireland are going to be opening there own stores soon (about 20 or so)

should be interesting soon!!!

you're right meteor uses o2's and 3 uses voda's. as far as i could see meteor only got worse when eircom took them over, on bill anyway. e.g. calls to england were included in meteor's minutes untill about a month after eircon took over

who told you 3 will be opening their own stores? they've been going for a few years in england and they still dont have their own stores

1huge1

3 made a press release statement a couple of months ago saying thet they were opening 20 or so shops in ireland sometime around summer
dont ask me for a link because i haven't got the slightest idea
but it is true

N90user

As i said I don't know much about Three so wel... i duno lol.

Lord diablo

you're right meteor uses o2's and 3 uses voda's. as far as i could see meteor only got worse when eircom took them over, on bill anyway. e.g. calls to england were included in meteor's minutes untill about a month after eircon took over

I know for a fact that Meteor are opening 20 more store and i also know that 3 are are definatly opening a store on Grafton street. Also Meteor are about to be awarded the 3rd 3g licensce in ireland it was taken from smart telecom and will be going to meteor because they could prove they have a hugh expansion of there network in mind.

Also we dont know what will happen with o2 yet rmember they have been bought by telefonica and with the amount of networks all over the world and dont forget the partnership telefonica has set-up with everyone, o2 could surprise everyone with some really good roaming rates.

Vodafone seem very slow to react to anything, like o2 launched there no roaming up the north or in the uk (buisness only ) in january and vodafone only caught up with that this month!! albeit they made it better. Vodafone definatly have a much better advert campaign prob the best in ireland.

1huge1

sincd when are comreg giving the 3rd 3G licence to meteor
your bullsh***ing unless you can find a link somewere
as comreg only took it of smart until they sorted themeselves out

1huge1

sincd when are comreg giving the 3rd 3G licence to meteor
your bullsh***ing unless you can find a link somewere
as comreg only took it of smart until they sorted themeselves out

oh ya orignal poster you should change your orignal post and make them all good coverage

Lord diablo

no link unfortunatly but i will attach a scanned clip of the magazine Mobile News about it which says that it will either go to Eircom or Meteor which is one in the same just Eircom if they get it may not be able to attach the 3g logo to Meteor stores.

I have to wait to get home to do it as the pic is 5.1mb so will edit it with photoshop then post it!

Blaster99

Lord diablo wrote:

Also Meteor are about to be awarded the 3rd 3g licensce in ireland it was taken from smart telecom and will be going to meteor because they could prove they have a hugh expansion of there network in mind.

No, ComReg has taken the licence from Smart because ComReg was not happy with the bond that Smart presented. The licence has not been given to anyone else because Smart has taken ComReg to court because Smart thinks their bond is just fine.

Lord diablo

It was reported in Irish times that Meteor/Eircom made a better presentation and better advancement rate than Smart,

Smart are not sueing Comreg they are apealing their decision but Comreg's descisions are always final really (as far as i know they have never been overturned in any matter), so i think we will see Eircom/Meteor with the licensce.

jrey1981

I was with Eircell in the early days when they used to charge an arm and a leg for calls.

Have been with T-Mobile in the UK, who I always found ok.

Here I am with O2. Cannot complain as I had 6 months free line rental from them and still get free texts. Call rates ok and end of roaming charges in the UK is very welcome. Unless 3 improve their coverage, I guess I will be staying with O2 for a while.

Lord diablo

the poll so far says Voda is the worst!!!

Why is that they would have the best coverage and the most money to spend on upgrades, i am not with them so i cant comment on there Customer service. there rates are ok?!? there roaming agreements are 2nd to none, the hanset choice is one of the best, so what exactly is it about Voda people dont like?

I am with o2 i think they are very reasonable, no major complaints. I like the way they do little offers every now and again like this 1c text and call on the weekends now.

Blaster99

Lord diablo wrote:

It was reported in Irish times that Meteor/Eircom made a better presentation and better advancement rate than Smart,

Whoopie for the Irish Times, but Smart got the license.

Lord diablo wrote:

Smart are not sueing Comreg they are apealing their decision but Comreg's descisions are always final really (as far as i know they have never been overturned in any matter), so i think we will see Eircom/Meteor with the licensce.

(a) I said nothing about anybody sueing anybody (b) ComReg has lost all or nearly all court cases they've been involved in. Their opinion is pretty much worthless in the scheme of things.

And to get back to the value debate, chances are Smart would make an impact here as well. They would certainly be a more interesting market participant than eircom or Meteor.

Lord diablo

but smart dont have it now!

and what court cases did Comreg loose? can you name one? How come they told o2 they had to provide their masts for Meteor masts to make it more competitive (for a fee obvisiouly),if Comreg opinions and decisions matter so little how come they stripped Smart of the licensce and they have the authority to hand them out in the first plce, also they say which is the best network for customer service on both call centres and stores from their mystery shop. So it should be good to see if their worthless opinion matters?

They would certainly be a more interesting market participant than eircom or Meteor.
interesting how exactly? it took meteor 4-5 years to become truly competitive and if smart came into the market they would have to do the same, which is either set up their own masts which they have to do for 3g anyway or use o2 or vodafone. So they have to start frokm fresh with all the same teething problems and coverage problems everyone did. So prob there impact would prob be a ripple just like 3 ire is at the moment. o2 or Voda dont see them as a threat YET!

Creamy Goodness

vodafone.

best coverage.

was with meteor (eircom) but if they can't give my a proper reception in a c.50,000 population town (bray) then they were not getting another penny of me.

The Doktor

Lord diablo wrote:

but smart dont have it now!

and what court cases did Comreg loose? How come they told o2 they had to provide their masts for Meteor masts to make it more competitive

O2 nor Vodafone were not forced to allow Hutch or Meteor roam on their network. Comreg wanted to force the operators to open their network to NVMOs but this decision was overturned through appeals.
I could get some links for ye, but im sure you will take my word for it.;)

Lord diablo

sorry your right about o2 not been forced to share with meteor but it was like a 2 yr deal i think it ends in september this year.

Whats nvmos?

i really am not looking to argue over this stuff just trying to sort through the crap and get whats really happening with these networks. The more networks the better but o2 and voda are not going to lower there prices until they have REAL competition so i think if meteor got the 3rd licensce they would become a bigger threat to o2 and voda which would mean they would have to lower there prices.

BuffyBot

MVNO's and the 3/Meteor deals are two seperate things altogether.

The Doktor

mvnos... yeah.. thats what I ment...:D

Blaster99

Lord diablo wrote:

but smart dont have it now!

Yes they do. Smart has filed an injunction against ComReg so ComReg can't do anything with the license until that has been sorted out.

Lord diablo wrote:

Interesting how exactly

Interesting in the sense of product innovation. eircom has 0 product innovation. Meteor offers much the same call cost as anyone else. The only thing they've managed to come up with is free or cheap texts between Meteor users. Where can I sign up.

3 on the other hand are looking to majorly shake up the market with stuff like Skype etc. 3 sees themselves as a media company, not a telephone company. It may or may not be the way to go, but at least they're not the same ol' overpriced crap wrapped in trendy advertising and sponsorships that the likes of Vodafone and O2 are doing. I think 3 is making a major mistake by locking data access to stuff they approve of, though.

Smart may take a different route by offering something different. I think any operator that only has a 3G network will typically push data content to a much greater degree.

Then we have O2 that sits on a 3G network that must have cost them a fortune to build and they're not marketing it at all.

jrey1981

Recent media reports have indicated that Tesco are looking into an MVNO over the O2 network, as in the UK.

Carphone Warehouse are also looking into an MVNO - they have Fresh and Mobile World in the UK.

Have not heard any more about Easymobile, as they are struggling to get off the ground in the UK.

Have not heard any more about Clever Communications, but I think that is going to be aimed at business customers if it does go ahead.

If we get Tesco and CPW here, they should shake things up a little, and either of them, depending on their offerings, would make me consider leaving O2.

1huge1

jrey1981 wrote:

I was with Eircell in the early days when they used to charge an arm and a leg for calls.

Have been with T-Mobile in the UK, who I always found ok.

Here I am with O2. Cannot complain as I had 6 months free line rental from them and still get free texts. Call rates ok and end of roaming charges in the UK is very welcome. Unless 3 improve their coverage, I guess I will be staying with O2 for a while.

unless 3 inprove the coverage? did you look at one thing we said!!

Sam Vimes

jrey1981 wrote:

Unless 3 improve their coverage, I guess I will be staying with O2 for a while.

did you not read the thread? they have full coverage

Sam Vimes

Lord diablo wrote:

the poll so far says Voda is the worst!!!

Why is that they would have the best coverage and the most money to spend on upgrades, i am not with them so i cant comment on there Customer service. there rates are ok?!? there roaming agreements are 2nd to none, the hanset choice is one of the best, so what exactly is it about Voda people dont like?

I am with o2 i think they are very reasonable, no major complaints. I like the way they do little offers every now and again like this 1c text and call on the weekends now.

voda is the worst because they charge considerably than the other networks. and their customer care are trained to lie if you ask for an unlock code. i can't fault them on their handsets or roaming agreements though

ken90

Vodafone - Best coverage, I can't afford to miss a call.

Factor in 3's very expensive roaming and THEN compare charges.

Personally for business, one missed oppertunity, could equal 12 months of call charges.

Sam Vimes

ken90 wrote:

Vodafone - Best coverage, I can't afford to miss a call.

Factor in 3's very expensive roaming and THEN compare charges.

Personally for business, one missed oppertunity, could equal 12 months of call charges.

3's roaming is pricey but i don't really go abroad. did you not read the thread either? 3 uses vodafone's coverage. so three has access to all vodafone's masts plus their own

1huge1

plus 3's 3G coverage is considerably better than vodafones
3 has something like 78% of the population while vodafone is just under 60% as far as i know

as for roaming well my father only found out after he cam back from the UK on vodafonethat with the no roaming anymore in the UK thing that you had to call them and set it up and he got charged a bomb
while with 3 its done automatically
anyway with all this thing with the european union trying to cut down on european roaming charges it will be no time time until 3 will be cheap in other european countries

Sam Vimes

1huge1 wrote:

plus 3's 3G coverage is considerably better than vodafones
3 has something like 78% of the population while vodafone is just under 60% as far as i know

as for roaming well my father only found out after he cam back from the UK on vodafonethat with the no roaming anymore in the UK thing that you had to call them and set it up and he got charged a bomb
while with 3 its done automatically
anyway with all this thing with the european union trying to cut down on european roaming charges it will be no time time until 3 will be cheap in other european countries

yeah i thought that was funny myself. they could have easily just automatically done it but they went to the trouble of setting up a special number and manning it so thousands of people would have to ring in and set it up. they did it so things like that would happen imo

byte

Vodafone for me usually have better service, though they're probably not the cheapest. But for me, service is more important than pricing.

Blaster99

ken90 wrote:

Vodafone - Best coverage, I can't afford to miss a call.

Factor in 3's very expensive roaming and THEN compare charges.

Personally for business, one missed oppertunity, could equal 12 months of call charges.

Vodafone certainly has very nice roaming deals on other Vodafone networks, and if that's important then they're probably untouchable.

It sounds like 3 has poor roaming agreements, never mind being expensive. I've only used them in the UK as well as Ireland so far and that's been fine. Heading to other destinations soon so we'll see if I end up cursing them.

Gonzo

mobile coverage is terrible where I live, I had 02 for years but the signal went to one bar about 2 years ago and is still like that so I moved to Vodaphone and now get pretty decent coverage. Meteor barely works in my area as well.

jrey1981

Commander Vimes wrote:

did you not read the thread? they have full coverage

Not where I live they dont.

1huge1

jrey1981 wrote:

Not where I live they dont.

now your forgetting what you said which was that vodafones coverage was class and you wouldnt move to 3 unless they improve their coverage
but if 3 has bad coverage in your area so does vodafone

Gavin

I'd like to go to move to 3 from vodafone after reading some of the comments, but they don't have the phone I'm after, a K750i.

I'm sick of vodafone, the prices are expensive, and after being a reliable bill paying customer for more than 5 years, I get cack offers on the upgrades. The K750i is 130euro upgrade with no discount on vodafone and 70 on meteor.

I'm slightly confused about the Meteor billing though. Talk 400 is 60 euro with 400 minutes.. But are these 400 minutes free to any land line, or is it that the 400 minutes are simply charged at 15c a minute as opposed to 20c a minute..

The website seems to imply that it is the latter, which really is useless.

Gav

Blaster99

The SE K750i is not a 3G phone. 3 only sells 3G phones. They do the K608i, which is the phone I have. It's good (probably the best one they sell now) and has every feature I need.

I think Meteor means to say that x hundred minutes are included and then they charge x cent per minute above the bundle.

dub_skav

Just to clear something up about roaming agreements between the operators.

I have read the thread and people seem to think that Meteor have the same coverage as O2 and 3 have the same or better than Vodafone.

Both of the above statements are untrue.

Meteor use O2 where they have absolutely no coverage - this is mainly in the West. So if you are in an area with very bad Meteor coverage you will still use that meteor signal, it is only where Meteor have categorically stated that they have no masts that you will use O2.

3 use Vodafone's signal in much the same way, only where they themselves have no coverage. For example they no longer use Vodafone at all in Dublin and surrounds. This means that if you live on the edge of Dublin - Bray for examle, as one poster stated - then you will use 3's coverage no matter how patchy not Vodafone's.

Just thought I'd clear that up as a lot of people seem to be pushing misinformation.

So for all the posters that think coverage and reliability are more important than pice (I would be one of these) then O2 or Vodafone are the only options.

Pythia

Verb wrote:

I'd like to go to move to 3 from vodafone after reading some of the comments, but they don't have the phone I'm after, a K750i.

I'm sick of vodafone, the prices are expensive, and after being a reliable bill paying customer for more than 5 years, I get cack offers on the upgrades. The K750i is 130euro upgrade with no discount on vodafone and 70 on meteor.

I'm slightly confused about the Meteor billing though. Talk 400 is 60 euro with 400 minutes.. But are these 400 minutes free to any land line, or is it that the 400 minutes are simply charged at 15c a minute as opposed to 20c a minute..

The website seems to imply that it is the latter, which really is useless.

Gav

Ok, basically with the Talk plans, you are signing up to buying a certain amount of minutes every month. So with Talk 400, you are signing a contract to buy 400 minutes a month for 60e, working out at 15c per minute. These mintues can be used on calls to any Irish number, be it land line, same network or other network. Once you go over the amount of minutes you've bought in advance, you get charged at 20c per minute.
If you don't use up your minutes, you still get charged the 60e or whatever, as that's what you've signed for. Hope that helps!

Blaster99

dub_skav wrote:

Just to clear something up about roaming agreements between the operators.

I have read the thread and people seem to think that Meteor have the same coverage as O2 and 3 have the same or better than Vodafone.

Both of the above statements are untrue.

Meteor use O2 where they have absolutely no coverage - this is mainly in the West. So if you are in an area with very bad Meteor coverage you will still use that meteor signal, it is only where Meteor have categorically stated that they have no masts that you will use O2.

3 use Vodafone's signal in much the same way, only where they themselves have no coverage. For example they no longer use Vodafone at all in Dublin and surrounds. This means that if you live on the edge of Dublin - Bray for examle, as one poster stated - then you will use 3's coverage no matter how patchy not Vodafone's.

Just thought I'd clear that up as a lot of people seem to be pushing misinformation.

So for all the posters that think coverage and reliability are more important than pice (I would be one of these) then O2 or Vodafone are the only options.

You would be correct and incorrect. I have pointed this out too on occasion but couldn't be bothered to repeat it again. I think you're definitely correct with Meteor in that they only use O2 in specific cells, but it's not true with 3 from what I can tell. My 3 phone somehow got locked onto 2G service only for a while so I was using Vodafone's network in Dublin instead of 3's. I would conclude from this that if you have no 3 signal, it goes over to Vodafone's network so you will not be without signal anywhere. That's not to say that 3's signal is as good as Vodafone's at all times. It's not a problem in Bray where there's plenty of 3 coverage, but as an example it is more of a problem in Greystones where 3's coverage is more marginal and you will often see a weak signal. But the service works.

I think the upshot of this is that 3 (with Vodafone backup) actually has better coverage than O2 and possibly also Vodafone. I used to drive into a few O2 blackspots on common routes where the call would just die. I've never had the same problem with 3.

Cabaal

I have to say compared to Vodafone three seem to have much better coverage in the likes of Waterford, was up in my girlfriends house during the weekend and noticed she can hardly get any signal in the kitchen but yet I have a full 3G signal from Three.

Sam Vimes

jrey1981 wrote:

Not where I live they dont.

well then vodafone has no coverage there either. all networks will have some black spots and from the look of your location i don't think you're living on O'Connell street. it strikes me as one of those "mountains for miles" places

dub_skav wrote:

Just to clear something up about roaming agreements between the operators.

I have read the thread and people seem to think that Meteor have the same coverage as O2 and 3 have the same or better than Vodafone.

Both of the above statements are untrue.

Meteor use O2 where they have absolutely no coverage - this is mainly in the West. So if you are in an area with very bad Meteor coverage you will still use that meteor signal, it is only where Meteor have categorically stated that they have no masts that you will use O2.

3 use Vodafone's signal in much the same way, only where they themselves have no coverage. For example they no longer use Vodafone at all in Dublin and surrounds. This means that if you live on the edge of Dublin - Bray for examle, as one poster stated - then you will use 3's coverage no matter how patchy not Vodafone's.

Just thought I'd clear that up as a lot of people seem to be pushing misinformation.

So for all the posters that think coverage and reliability are more important than pice (I would be one of these) then O2 or Vodafone are the only options.

while it is true that they only use vodafone's mast where they have no coverage, they keep voda coverage until they put up a mast of their own so they would have coverage just as good as voda. i think meteor's agreement is different. they just have no intention of building masts down the country.

i've never had any problems with 3 coverage and i've been all round the country with it.

you're right that 3 don't use voda in dublin anymore. i set my phone to 2g only and i got no coverage at all.