lack of competition between O2 and Vodafone

idontknowmyname

Anyone else sick of paying the highest mobile phone charges in europe??

I'm so sick of it, it costs a fortune to make phone calls during the weekdays, texts are expensive.
At least O2 have the text bundles where you can buy 100 for €7.50 or 200 for €15, Vodafone are so stingy they dont offer anything like that, ok they have this offer of 6cent a text but thats only til march!

Meteor seem to be pretty decent with their free txt msgs between other 085 people as long as you top up by €20 each month, only thing is their coverage aint great, but it is getting better.


ComReg are apparently going to force both networks to compete more, which they are both threatening to go to court over.....the UK has the best mobile networks where there's loads of operators clammering to get customers, so they have to compete if they are to stand a chance

LegacyUser

you sound like my economics teacher. all she goes on about.

I agree though...

idontknowmyname

well i am a 4th yr college student so i've picked up a thing or two

Wertz

Pisses me off no end that everytime I switch on the TV/Radio/Net there's something sponsored by either company. Sure companies need to advertise but sinking the huge profits they make on the back of Irish network users into the likes of Man U or Ferrari (as if they need it) annoys the sh*te out of me.

I realise that these are global companies and that only a small part of their income is generated in the Irish market, but apart from a gaelic team (cork?) and some FAI side where else is this sponsorship seen in the Irish market?
God forbid that they do something worthwhile like sponsorship of schools events or similar...

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Pyr0

idontknowmyname wrote:

Meteor seem to be pretty decent with their free txt msgs between other 085 people as long as you top up by €20 each month, only thing is their coverage aint great, but it is getting better.

I thought they stopped that,it only still works with old 085 sim cards now I think.....

Mimikyu

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Pyr0

Damn....*watches shimmer of hope drift away*

sceptre

idontknowmyname wrote:

Vodafone are so stingy they dont offer anything like that

They do for pay monthly (8 euros for 100 IIRC). Having said that, Vodafone and O2 don't appear to be all that interested in competing to take market share from each other.

breadmonkey

I was recently (reliably) informed that meteor are now using the 02 network, and have the same, complete, coverage.

Mimikyu

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omnicorp

they do, but only wher ethey don;t have any coverage at all, do in some areas you still have 1/2 bars wheras o2 might have 4/5 bars.

I moved to o2 and their phone-calls are expensive but I don't make any but their texts are much cheaper than vodafone.

One of the worst things is that you can only buy certain phones on one network.
Especially those Vodafone live phones where you can never move network, there should be a rule against that

kinkstr

ross*k wrote:

I was recently (reliably) informed that meteor are now using the 02 network, and have the same, complete, coverage.

yep, there sharing the masts, or whatever there called

omnicorp

only in areas where Meteor have no coverage at all

Lump

Ah, thank god for cheap mobile stuff in the Uk. I pay £30 a month, get 500 minutes and 750 texts a month. I think even an addicted texter would find it hard to eat through that many texts. Plus I got a free phone, which I flogged on e-bay for 200 nicker. That's basically the first seven months free telephone stuff.


John

sceptre

omnicorp wrote:

only in areas where Meteor have no coverage at all

Indeed. Mostly Donegal (where Meteor's lack of coverage is pretty legendary). Meteor users in say, Cork city won't be using anything other than a Meteor mast regardless if the reception is great or rubbish in their particular area.

byte

Yeah, its €6 for 100 texts bundle for either RTG or postpay. After April it'll be €8 per 100. Both are OK deals, with the exception that you're only allowed one bundle per month!

sceptre wrote:

They do for pay monthly (8 euros for 100 IIRC). Having said that, Vodafone and O2 don't appear to be all that interested in competing to take market share from each other.

Adam

Lump wrote:

Ah, thank god for cheap mobile stuff in the Uk. I pay £30 a month, get 500 minutes and 750 texts a month. I think even an addicted texter would find it hard to eat through that many texts.


John

I send up on 200 texts....a day.... :eek:

Spunog UIE

those o2 bundles, do they included mms msgs? *hugs my meteor card*

NotMe

fade_to_grey wrote:

I send up on 200 texts....a day.... :eek:

I'm surprised you have time to post on the internet.

Adam

its basically a subconscious activity at this stage!

/me clings to meteor sim also....

projectmayhem

meh

the prices are pretty decent and are (as far as i'm aware) in-line with europe.

i'm not bias, even though my dad works for vodafone

Lump

fade_to_grey wrote:

I send up on 200 texts....a day.... :eek:

My arse you do.


John

Don't even try and tell me you spend almost €7,000 a year on texts. (Do the sums)

embee

I just started working with Vodafone, and you'd be surprised the amount of texts some teenagers send in one day. One customer had sent over 160... from 9 am to about 11 pm.

Lump

Get the **** out of here. Where do they get the money?

John

Lex_Diamonds

embee wrote:

I just started working with Vodafone, and you'd be surprised the amount of texts some teenagers send in one day. One customer had sent over 160... from 9 am to about 11 pm.

So the rumours of Vodafone Dundalk employees snooping in customers accounts are true then...

Terrier

I know everone is alway giving out about Eircom, but as the most likely new player to the mobile market, they will make some inroads.

The brand Eircell still belongs to Eircom
The have all the sites for mast and they have the only complete backbone network.
They can offer cheaper calls to eircom landlines ...

Ciaran500

Lump wrote:

Don't even try and tell me you spend almost €7,000 a year on texts. (Do the sums)

He already said he's on Meteor's free text package.

gurramok

Ciaran500 wrote:

He already said he's on Meteor's free text package.

Well, maybe he sends 200 freet txts from the web per month as Meteor and Vodafone offer.

It does surprise me that the peeps who give out about the big 2 (O2 and vodafone) and bitch about them here never switch networks, quite ironic !!

omnicorp

wouldn't it be cheaper and less harmful to your thumbs to phone people?

Wertz

Lex_Diamonds wrote:

So the rumours of Vodafone Dundalk employees snooping in customers accounts are true then...

Oh snap! Was just gonna post similar.
Vodafone Dundalk: the best O2 promotional sales team in Ireland...

Lump

Ciaran500 wrote:

He already said he's on Meteor's free text package.

When? There was only one post prior to my reply, stating that he sent 200 texts a day, no mention of Meteor free texting.... there hasn't been mention of it since either, just that he clings to his sim card which is a meteor one.


John

omnicorp

The problem with meteor is that you only really save when you know others on Meteor

Adam

Lump wrote:

When? There was only one post prior to my reply, stating that he sent 200 texts a day, no mention of Meteor free texting.... there hasn't been mention of it since either, just that he clings to his sim card which is a meteor one.


John

Here's some simple math for you:

My meteor sim + mobile phone + free texts to all other 085's (gf, several close friends included) = E7000 saved by moi! Fairly easy to follow wouldn't you agree?

omnicorp

yes, what do you do with your free internet texts

legofsalmon

I just don't use my phone to much to be honest.... if I need to contact someone badly I send them a "how are you?" message and they ring me back....

spent about E60 tops last year on credit.....

omnicorp

maybe €10-€15 a month, for a teenager thats pretty good.

Adam

omnicorp wrote:

yes, what do you do with your free internet texts

I generally dont use them, as i said, most of the people i'd text regularly are 085 and the E20 a month covers any other texts i'd want to send usually, so it works out nicely for me! I save a tidy sum of about E6240 a year, based on meteors rates. Bump that up to E9120 a year based on o2's rates! (assuming a 13c/text charge, but i dont know if thats still the cost is it?)

Anyway, i'm happy! Meteor have to be losing a package when you consider i'm just one person, albeit an extreme case...

omnicorp

yes, how oong before they go out of business

Adam

Well as you can imagine, i'm hoping never!

omnicorp

yeah, but what about when o2 and vodafone are forced to open up their networks

Adam

How do you mean?

omnicorp

well, can meteor handle that much competition

Spunog UIE

free texts FOR LIFE MAN

omnicorp

on old meteor sims

Adam

omnicorp wrote:

well, can meteor handle that much competition

Good question, i really cant speculate... Apparently meteor has only 5% of the irish market, but anyway tbh i cant see new companies coming on to the market with roaring success. The irish are notorious for whining about prices but doing nothing about them, i cant see everybody upping and leaving from a reliable, albeit expensive, service such as o2 or vodafone, so i don't think meteor will be in too much danger if they're doing well at the moment, though i've never heard anything about how profitable the meteor company has been...

omnicorp

i always go for the best value.

Adam

Yes, as would i, but we do have that reputation.

Mimikyu

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gurramok

omnicorp wrote:

The problem with meteor is that you only really save when you know others on Meteor

Thats odd as it costs me 20c anytime to call any 085/086/087 number with no difference in charge. Also txts are 9c to any network

Adam

Cos your on Meteor Anytime plan gurramok, if you want varied time charges log on to www.meteor.ie and you can change your call plan. And yes, texts to any network are all 9c. Cheaper network all round.