First 4G network live

Cork981

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/34307-eircom-to-launch-first-4g/

Telecoms operator Eircom has confirmed it is launching 4G mobile services in Ireland tomorrow. The company said 4G will initially be available for 30pc of the population, rising to 40pc by Christmas and 90pc within three years.

Eircom told Siliconrepublic.com that users can expect peak speeds of between 20 and 25Mbps. During technical trials the operator clocked speeds of more than 60Mbps.

The 4G rollout is being underpinned by a €330m investment over five years.

The service is now live in Dublin, Carlow and Athlone and will serve 1.2m users.

Over the coming weeks the rollout will continue to include Cork, Galway and Limerick.

“Using recently acquired 4G spectrum, we have fast tracked our network investment to ensure that we are the first provider to offer customers this significantly improved mobile broadband experience, underlying our commitment to the country to provide top-class telecommunications infrastructure and our commitment to customers to provide a quality service that offers real value,” said Eircom CEO Herb Hribar.

By the end of September some 43pc of the population will have a 4G service.

The managing director of Eircom’s consumer division Kevin White said that customers of Meteor and E-Mobile who have 4G-enabled smartphones will be automatically entitled to a new SIM.

Eircom will initially offer two 4G bundles, including a fixed, unlimited mobile and voice bundle for €60 per month and a standalone unlimited mobile service for €30 per month.

“The new 4G service will cover 80pc of the population of Dublin, prediminatnly those who live within the M50 area. We expect more than 50pc of the population will have access to our 4G network by June 2014.”

White said that the new network will have an average throughput of between 10 and 15Mbps.

He added that the unlimited plans that will come with the service at launch will come to an end on 1 March next year and a €49 plan will have a cap of 3GB and a €59 plan will have a 6GB plan.

Elaine Robinson, director of Next Generation Voice & Data at Eircom, said that the 4G network in Dublin makes use of Eircom’s 1800MHz licensed spectrum while the service in areas like Athlone makes use of the 800MHz licensed spectrum that Eircom obtained from ComReg last November.

She said the base stations and systems employed by Eircom are a combination of Ericsson and Huawei technology.

“Tomorrow we will be the first operator in Ireland serving 4G to the country. We will start with coverage of 30pc of the population, rising to 40pc by Chriastmas, 50pc next summer and 90pc within three years,” Robinson said./QUOTE]

Slaanesh

The caps are a joke once again. HD content will suck that dry in a couple of episodes.

circadian

The caps with all the networks are a joke. 500meg with Vodafone?

Three offer unlimited* but their speeds are horrible.

BeerWolf

Here you go lads, all that speed! But you've got a miniscule data cap - enjoy!

:pac:


€59 for 6GB... feck off. Completely mind boggles me why even bother, defeating the purpose of speed to have a stupidly low cap...

galait

Broadband Plans according to Meteor Phone sales are

14.99 for a 30 Day rolling Contract with 6Gb Allowance but unlimited until March 1 2014
24.99 for an 18 Month Contract with 20Gb Allowance but unlimited until March 1 2014

Both only available instore and also E3131 Mobile Dongle does not support 4G so new device required according to agent from Meteor

The Real B-man

Unlimited until Next Year, Hopefully this will get Better once the Network is Complete, Exciting times for 02/3 Merge its going to be some Network Coverage wise

galait

Rang Local Store in Athlone and clueless about Mobile Broadband Hardware , He quoted from an email he received earlier re: plans

30 days 14.99 6gb
12 mth 20.32 10gb
18 mth 29.99 30gb

Joke of a Launch if you ask me , Athlone is one of only 2 towns outside Dublin to launch and the local store are totally clueless .

TheBandicoot

****ing angry at Meteor now, I went to a shop to get a 4g SIM(I have 4g phone and am already on Meteor bill pay), and they wouldn't give it to me because I'm already on a contract. I would have to sign up to an 80% more expensive contract to get the SIM. Whereas if I was a poxy PAYG customer I could just get the SIM only plan for €30, same as I pay right now. Great way to treat existing customers.

Kevin White said that customers of Meteor and E-Mobile who have 4G-enabled smartphones will be automatically entitled to a new SIM.

Blatant lie.

unklerosco

TheBandicoot wrote: »

****ing angry at Meteor now, I went to a shop to get a 4g SIM(I have 4g phone and am already on Meteor bill pay), and they wouldn't give it to me because I'm already on a contract. I would have to sign up to an 80% more expensive contract to get the SIM. Whereas if I was a poxy PAYG customer I could just get the SIM only plan for €30, same as I pay right now. Great way to treat existing customers.



Blatant lie.

Yep, they're really gonna piss off a load of people. I was getting an upgrade for one of my phones yesterday and was told you need to be on a 24 month contract to get a 4g sim. You wont get it if you are on a 12 or 18 month contract.

TheBandicoot

Anyone got Kevin White's email address?

long_b

unklerosco wrote: »

Yep, they're really gonna piss off a load of people. I was getting an upgrade for one of my phones yesterday and was told you need to be on a 24 month contract to get a 4g sim. You wont get it if you are on a 12 or 18 month contract.

Wow - what horse poop. They have the 30 day sim only 4G plan on their website sure !

unklerosco

long_b wrote: »

Wow - what horse poop. They have the 30 day sim only 4G plan on their website sure !

Turns out it's just for the plan I'm on http://www.emobile.ie/phonesplansmore/plans/postpay/detailsBundles/?gid=135

Other plans have a choice of 18/24... Someone needs to start doing 12 month contracts again, memories....

7upfree

is there any mention of the ACTUAL speed they're going to supply on the tariffs (the 60 Meg was probably with one user connected in fairness)?

bealtine

7upfree wrote: »

is there any mention of the ACTUAL speed they're going to supply on the tariffs (the 60 Meg was probably with one user connected in fairness)?

There are NO guarantees of any sort of speed on any mobile network, that includes 4G, there simply are too many variables. So one good speed test does not mean anybody else will even get similar speeds in even the same cell

ando

I can see there's a lot of conflicting reports regarding the launch. Every new Internet launch has confusion and ridiculous limitations at the start, right back to IrelandOffline flat rate dial up a few years ago. I presume this is all just teething problems and in time (give it 6 months) we'll have much better packages available to the public on 4G

7upfree

ando wrote: »

I can see there's a lot of conflicting reports regarding the launch. Every new Internet launch has confusion and ridiculous limitations at the start, right back to IrelandOffline flat rate dial up a few years ago. I presume this is all just teething problems and in time (give it 6 months) we'll have much better packages available to the public on 4G

They'd want to be good. Apparently, one hour of Netflix HD consumes 3GB or so.:eek:

padraigdel

Eircom have been promising broadband would arrive in rural areas for years.Its why we held on to our landline for so long with promises we would have broadband in a few months but never happened.So i wouldnt hold my breath on the data allowance improving .If the say months it will probably be years.Maybe sky will buy them out with a bit of luck.:rolleyes:

Mossess

I just checked my usage, I’m a mere 3G eMobile customer.
I have email always up to date, some YouTube, and a bit of Netflix (FYI – watching breaking bad for about an hour used just over a hundred megs) – I wouldn’t say I’m a massive data user as I’m usually on Wi-Fi. But that said, in the previous 14 days I used 752.59 MB. On 3G.

I’d love to get 4G, cause it’s new a shiny and faster and and and…. But, you know what, my 3G connection does everything I want really well. If I’m watching Netflix I can’t watch it any faster no matter how fast my connection is. I think the best thing to do here is to sit back and relax. 4G will be the norm this time next year.

BeerWolf

Mossess wrote: »

I just checked my usage, I’m a mere 3G eMobile customer.
I have email always up to date, some YouTube, and a bit of Netflix (FYI – watching breaking bad for about an hour used just over a hundred megs) – I wouldn’t say I’m a massive data user as I’m usually on Wi-Fi. But that said, in the previous 14 days I used 752.59 MB. On 3G.

I’d love to get 4G, cause it’s new a shiny and faster and and and…. But, you know what, my 3G connection does everything I want really well. If I’m watching Netflix I can’t watch it any faster no matter how fast my connection is. I think the best thing to do here is to sit back and relax. 4G will be the norm this time next year.

There's a big difference of file size between watching on your phone, over a big screen TV in HD.

galait

Any Physical difference between Meteor 3G and 4G sim , Colour etc ?

long_b

galait wrote: »

Any Physical difference between Meteor 3G and 4G sim , Colour etc ?

Not that I noticed