Three’s 4G network goes live – free 4G for all customers for six months

Chris The Hacker

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/35463-threes-4g-network-goes/

On 27 January, mobile operator Three will launch its 4G network, which will cover 60pc of the cities of Galway, Limerick and Waterford, and 40pc of the cities of Dublin and Cork at launch.

The mobile operator, which is currently attempting to acquire O2 Ireland for €850m, said both its billpay and prepay customers will receive 4G access for free until 31 July.

All existing customers with 4G-compatible phones will be able to experience 4G after a quick software update without having to change their tariff or SIM.

From 1 August, billpay customers can continue to receive 4G by purchasing a €4.99 per month add-on.
The 4G charges for prepay users will be revealed in the coming months, Three said.
4G coverage

Three, which has 99.5pc population coverage for voice and text and 97pc for 3G mobile broadband, said that at launch, 60pc of Galway, Limerick and Waterford will be covered by 4G and 40pc of Dublin and Cork will be covered by the next-generation service.

“As data consumption soars with today’s ‘always on’ mobile users, the introduction of 4G meets people’s need for speed, allowing Three customers do even more on their smartphones,” said Elaine Carey, chief commercial officer of Three.

Three has invested €800m so far to build its 4G network.
In October, Three appointed Korean technology giant Samsung to deploy its 4G network, which will be capable of speeds of up to 100Mbps.
Three, which is the main sponsor of the Irish international football team, appointed team captain Robbie Keane as its 4G ambassador.

It will be interesting to see exactly what kind of speeds are achieved with 4G.

Unfortunately I do not have a 4G compatible smartphone so it will probably be a while before I get to try out the new service for myself.

tinodz

So, if I have one of these....



Does this mean anything new for me?

Robbie Keane as its 4G ambassador.

Oh, I feel safe already

drunkmonkey

It won't work on 4G, there selling the Netgear AC762S for 99. That's the only 4G modem launched so far.

tinodz

drunkmonkey wrote: »

It won't work on 4G, there selling the Netgear AC762S for 99. That's the only 4G modem launched so far.

So If I buy the Netgear, I just swap over the sim card, and I will have access to 4G speeds (dependant on location) under my current 60GB per month plan?

...or will this be a whole new contract - which I want no part of

sawdoubters

4g should be free

drunkmonkey

tinodz wrote: »

So If I buy the Netgear, I just swap over the sim card, and I will have access to 4G speeds (dependant on location) under my current 60GB per month plan?

...or will this be a whole new contract - which I want no part of

It's free for the first 6mts with your current sim card, you just need the new modem or a 4g phone.

long_b

Picked up a PAYG SIM at lunchtime.

Where it worked was getting around 13Mb/sec down, 8 Mb/sec up.

An AWFUL amount of drops though - speedtest couldn't run A LOT.
That's around D2, outside.


Early day issues maybe but far from impressive

amurph0

Anyone been able to use it in limerick yet?

I'm still only getting 3g speeds near the bus station (and very poor speeds at that, barely reaches 200kb/s).

Using a Nexus 5.

long_b

Pretty sure there's a limit on the Payg speeds.
Can't break 14 down, 10 up in Dublin 2 over the last two days

ED E

long_b wrote: »

Pretty sure there's a limit on the Payg speeds.
Can't break 14 down, 10 up in Dublin 2 over the last two days

Sounds like its doing HSPA not LTE then bud.

long_b

ED E wrote: »

Sounds like its doing HSPA not LTE then bud.

Sure does... Said 4G on the phone though and the phone has all the bands (Nokia 820)

ED E

long_b wrote: »

Sure does... Said 4G on the phone though and the phone has all the bands (Nokia 820)

Did you manually add the APNs though?

drunkmonkey

long_b wrote: »

Sure does... Said 4G on the phone though and the phone has all the bands (Nokia 820)

Is it an Irish nexus 5 I have my doubts, an American S4 shows 3G as 4G in Ireland so I reckon your firmware is lying to you.

long_b

ED E wrote: »

Did you manually add the APNs though?

Nope, was added automagically as 3ireland.ie
Am I missing something ?

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Is it an Irish nexus 5 I have my doubts, an American S4 shows 3G as 4G in Ireland so I reckon your firmware is lying to you.

It's a Nokia 820 - see specs
http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_lumia_820-4968.php

Worked fine when I was testing on Meteor - happily pulled down up to 29 Mb/sec

It cycles from 4G > H+ > H

Davy

long_b wrote: »

Nope, was added automagically as 3ireland.ie
Am I missing something ?


It's a Nokia 820 - see specs
http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_lumia_820-4968.php

Worked fine when I was testing on Meteor - happily pulled down up to 29 Mb/sec

It cycles from 4G > H+ > H

Have you tried any other cells just to confirm something is wrong.

I have done loads of tests with an unlocked lumia without issue

long_b

Davy wrote: »

Have you tried any other cells just to confirm something is wrong.

I have done loads of tests with an unlocked lumia without issue

Walked from SSG to Mount Street to Trinity. Must have hit a few different cells surely ?

I'm not saying anything is wrong, just I'd like to see a Payg customer post speeds > 14 down

Davy

long_b wrote: »

Walked from SSG to Mount Street to Trinity. Must have hit a few different cells surely ?

I'm not saying anything is wrong, just I'd like to see a Payg customer post speeds > 14 down

Ye, you probably would have.

The lowest test i have got was 16.26 DL.

The average is working out at 42.31 DL

BeerWolf

6 months free 4G ? And here I am on a measly 20GB per month with Vodafone... T_T

long_b

Davy wrote: »

Ye, you probably would have.

The lowest test i have got was 16.26 DL.

The average is working out at 42.31 DL

Are you bill or Payg?

ED E

long b will WP allow you to set 4G only? If so try that to force it over.

long_b

ED E wrote: »

long b will WP allow you to set 4G only? If so try that to force it over.

No option for that but I'm going to try a new sim.
The one I got on Monday was a cut down SIM from cpw.
Will try one from 3

long_b

long_b wrote: »

No option for that but I'm going to try a new sim.
The one I got on Monday was a cut down SIM from cpw.
Will try one from 3

Replacement sim from 3 didn't help.

marcopop

Hi does anyone know if it will be 4.99 on prepay for 4G when this free period is up?