Three Ireland 5G

They don't list it on their site as a supported device. I've a pixel 5 which also supports it but the carrier settings have it disabled. Could be a long time before they get them updated to allow it given how long it took for them to enable 5g on the pixel devices

I've just read that Vodafone and Hutchinson are to merge their operations in the UK. A deal is supposed to be formally announced between the companies by this Friday.

I know that 3 is owned by Hutchinson here in Ireland. Would it make any financial sense to allow Vodafone and Hutchinson to merge their Irish operations at any time in the near future? Or is it legally not a runner?

I don't know if our own competition laws here would prevent it to even take place?

Any thoughts here would be very helpful.

I don't see Three and Vodafone merging here to be honest on regulatory grounds (and the Vodafone/Three UK deal is still subject to regulatory approval which is by no means certain).

Here, Vodafone are still the dominant player and Three are comfortably in second place. Both are profitable. A merger would see us left with only two major operators, a combined Vodafone/Three with a significant market share, and Eir, so chances are a merger would instantly fail on the basis of competition.

Whereas in the UK, Vodafone are lagging behind behind EE and VMO2 and Three are still struggling to make any sort of inroads into the market. Both are heavily indebted and that's a situation that is getting worse, not better. There would still be three main operators (BT/EE, VirginMedia/O2, and a combined Vodafone/Three) if the merger is cleared.

If I were to hazard a guess, I would say we could instead see a joint-venture here between Vodafone and Virgin Media on the mobile end, similar to Virgin Media and O2 in the UK.

We are already seeing inroads in the form of Virgin Media and SIRO (Vodafone/ESB joint-venture) agreeing to allow wholesale access to each other's networks. Virgin Media are mostly urban whereas SIRO are mostly suburban and semi-rural. They don't directly compete as things stand.

Vodafone own their own mobile network whereas Virgin Media are a virtual operator on the Three network. Both operate TV platforms which again tie to the mostly non-competing network footprints, although Vodafone do sell via the OpenEir wholesale network which for the most part competes directly with Virgin Media.

Once tested and proving to be at least 100Mbps/40Mbps consider €20/28d SIM only rather contract. You will need your own hardware.

Latency could have negative effect in gaming

Probably ok for most of your needs, maybe ask the neighbour about performance. Gaming is the only thing that could possibly not be as good but most likely ok for the most. Always a 14 day cooling off period signing up online if it’s not up to scratch. Generally I’d still go for a fixed line set up. Once it’s over 50mb or so I’ve no issues really. Would rather have the better latency/ping over a larger download. Still also prefer Eir over Three for mobile bb

Has enyone tried Three €9.99/month offer yet? Seen this at their store today.

Is it for business or Private users available?

Does that mean anything to you?

Found the terms and conditions of this offer. I don’t qualify anyway.

https://www.three.ie/pdfs/legal/3-sim-only-bundle-5g-promotion-december-2023.pdf

nah, its OK.

As per pdf above - that offer does not qualify for me anyway 😉

Large masts are not in vogue anymore. You want overall RAN capacity thus lots of small sectors not huge ones.

FWIW the monopoles are probably not Three themselves but one of the infra companies.

If upload is higher than download then it’s network congestion. They are probably connected to a very busy mast.