Vodafone 3g Mobile Subscriber Numbers (UP)

Sponge Bob

Vodafone last week announced that their 3g Data subs had grown 50% in the Apr-Jun quarter from 20k punters to 30k punters. Considering this !!!! , its noteworthy that there aren't more complaints about congestion around here

Allied with heavy 3 promotion of the same technology ( but no hard figures) it is be safe to assume that there were 40,000 3g data subs out there at the end of June . 1% of the population has one , more or less.

O2 launched a few weeks back. I would be very surprised if the overall 3g data figure was less than 60k users across all 3 networks by end sept and 90k by the end of the year....maybe even 100k .

If there are 90k-100k 3G subs by then ( + Digiweb whatnots) it will be necessary to have a mobile BB subforum around here by christmas but only as long as clearwire and ripwave are excluded for being mobile dialup

Urban Weigl

I think lots of people, like myself, will get mobile broadband in addition to a fixed connection. I wonder whether that will inflate the numbers.

StealthRolex

If you do want Broadband on a mobile modem don't bother with 3. They may be cheap but even at cheap you don't get what you pay for.

Most days and evenings my connection in the Dublin area tops (cops?) out at 50ishKbps. I might occasionally get 150K but most of the time it's at 15-20K

Their service is no better than Sky - India/Scotland. And if you call their Dublin office you get politely fobbed off.

Save your money and if you really want Broadband the choice is either set up your own Telecoms company or move to a country that actually has broad Broadband

thebman

Its still miles better than dial up if its your only option especially in rural areas.

It frees up your phone line and is cheaper or as expensive as a flatrate dial up package.

Sponge Bob

Sponge Bob wrote:

Vodafone last week announced that their 3g Data subs had grown 50% in the Apr-Jun quarter from 20k punters to 30k punters. Considering this !!!! , its noteworthy that there aren't more complaints about congestion around here

Allied with heavy 3 promotion of the same technology ( but no hard figures) it is be safe to assume that there were 40,000 3g data subs out there at the end of June . 1% of the population has one , more or less.

It turns out the Sponge was spot on. At the end of June 3 ( in their half yearly results) confirmed they had 10k subs and were acquiring punters at a rate of 1.7k a week .

That make it 30k voda and 10k 3 punters.

smellslikeshoes

Sponge Bob wrote:

It turns out the Sponge was spot on. At the end of June 3 ( in their half yearly results) confirmed they had 10k subs and were acquiring punters at a rate of 1.7k a week .

That make it 30k voda and 10k 3 punters.

Thats pretty amazing growth, no wonder three have been having problems with contention, I would think it somewhat caught them off guard. Would be very interested to see some figures from 02 to see how they compare. Figures like this really highlight how many less problems vodafone customers have been having if they have triple the customers of 3.

Sponge Bob

correct.

Vodafone have approx the same number of 3g cells as 3 do (well + or - 25% shall we say .

Vodafone have 3 times the customers that 3 do on 3g data .

Yet one hears far fewer complaints about dodgy 3g speeds from Voda customers than one does from 3 customers and thats with 3x the units out there and near enough the same number of cells.

smellslikeshoes

Sponge Bob wrote:

correct.

Vodafone have approx the same number of 3g cells as 3 do (well + or - 25% shall we say .

Vodafone have 3 times the customers that 3 do on 3g data .

Yet one hears far fewer complaints about dodgy 3g speeds from Voda customers than one does from 3 customers and thats with 3x the units out there and near enough the same number of cells.

Maybe this shows the different usage trends of vodafone phone users compared to 3 phone users. 3's main selling point for their phones is downloading music and web browsing. Vodafone don't push the advantages 3G has for mobile phone users as much. 3's 10k broadband subscribers might be sharing the same amount of bandwidth voda has with a larger number of regular net users on phones, though this is definitely no excuse for the speeds some people have been having.