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Free 4G service for Three Customers for 6 months

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  • 21-01-2014 11:05pm
    #1
    Dman001
    Registered Users Posts: 5,534 ✭✭✭


    http://www.three.ie/explore/4G/index.html

    Due to launch on the 27th January, Three are offering 6 months free 4G service to Prepay and Bill Customers. Seems pretty decent, even to just try it out. After that, it'll cost €4.99 (for Bill customers, on top of their existing Bill I'm guessing) for the service which seems pretty competitive.

    Been with Three for 2 and half years myself. Not one issue with them. Wouldn't go near Vodafone or O2 again.


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    #2
    jenno86
    Registered Users Posts: 2,634 ✭✭✭jenno86


    Fantastic. I have been with them for years and I can't recommend them enough!


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    #3
    whatawaster
    Registered Users Posts: 12,906 ✭✭✭✭whatawaster


    It should be free, surely?

    It's an evolution of their data service, which will eventually replace 3G. Just like E-Fibre is priced similarly to how broadband has always been priced.


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    #4
    Dman001
    Registered Users Posts: 5,534 ✭✭✭Dman001


    jenno86 wrote: »
    Fantastic. I have been with them for years and I can't recommend them enough!
    Same. Vodafone and O2 still bewilder me as to how much they continue to rip people off.


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    #5
    tonic wine
    Registered Users Posts: 1,099 ✭✭✭tonic wine


    4G network covergae doesn't look that great looking at the map.


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    #6
    Grab All Association
    Registered Users Posts: 3,917 ✭✭✭Grab All Association


    tonic wine wrote: »
    4G network covergae doesn't look that great looking at the map.

    Three coverage never was great. Ironically when the network first rolled out here in 2005 we could pick up 3G out here and it wasn't that bad until 2009. My area is in the NBS and all we can get is 2G on Three. I live in tiny village in Mid Tipperary we already have 4G on Meteor and Vodafone before most major towns not bad.


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    #7
    Stuxnet
    Registered Users Posts: 3,735 ✭✭✭Stuxnet


    Ridiculous that they would charge for this, its a simple evolution of a technology standard, typical rip off republic, squeeze the feckers for everything


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    #8
    Dman001
    Registered Users Posts: 5,534 ✭✭✭Dman001


    Stuxnet wrote: »
    Ridiculous that they would charge for this, its a simple evolution of a technology standard, typical rip off republic, squeeze the feckers for everything
    Meteor and EMobile seem to have 4G specific plans which cost more than their normal plans from what I can tell, so this is really inline with what the others are at. It was the same when 3G was launched in Ireland, it cost more for the service.


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    #9
    Ardennes1944
    Registered Users Posts: 9,238 ✭✭✭Ardennes1944


    switched to 3 yesterday, whoop!


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    #10
    Sonics2k
    Registered Users Posts: 8,239 ✭✭✭Sonics2k


    Stuxnet wrote: »
    Ridiculous that they would charge for this, its a simple evolution of a technology standard, typical rip off republic, squeeze the feckers for everything

    Ah now, let's not do the rip off republic thing, the rates across the UK and US are mental too.


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    #11
    Alanstrainor
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 23,157 Mod ✭✭✭✭Alanstrainor


    Already pay 55 a month, feck paying 5 more. Tbh, I reckon the 3g/H/H+ coverage could be a lot better even around dublin. They'd be better off improving that.


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    #12
    uck51js9zml2yt
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,268 ✭✭✭✭uck51js9zml2yt


    o2expires end of Jan. :)


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    #13
    wil
    Registered Users Posts: 4,188 ✭✭✭wil


    whatawaster wrote: »
    It should be free, surely?

    It's an evolution of their data service, which will eventually replace 3G. Just like E-Fibre is priced similarly to how broadband has always been priced.
    4g seems to be a real battery drainer according to most reviews, wish someone would sort out decent battery life.


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    #14
    drumswan
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,592 ✭✭✭drumswan


    Alanstrainor wrote: »
    Already pay 55 a month, feck paying 5 more. Tbh, I reckon the 3g/H/H+ coverage could be a lot better even around dublin. They'd be better off improving that.

    Why would you pay 55 a month, its 30 a month for unlimited everything


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    #15
    Kristopherus
    Registered Users Posts: 11,907 ✭✭✭✭Kristopherus


    drumswan wrote: »
    Why would you pay 55 a month, its 30 a month for unlimited everything

    He has a fancy phone to pay for with that tarriff:D.


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    #16
    AlanS181824
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 5,575 ✭✭✭AlanS181824


    Wish I had a 4G phone right about now. :P


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    #17
    Beadyeye
    Registered Users Posts: 69 ✭✭Beadyeye


    Quick question, does anyone know what happens if you want to avail of 4g offer but don't have a 4g phone (have a galaxy s3). Coming to the end of a 2 year contract in August.... Thanks


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    #18
    Kristopherus
    Registered Users Posts: 11,907 ✭✭✭✭Kristopherus


    AlanS181824 wrote: »
    Wish I had a 4G phone right about now. :P
    Beadyeye wrote: »
    Quick question, does anyone know what happens if you want to avail of 4g offer but don't have a 4g phone (have a galaxy s3). Coming to the end of a 2 year contract in August.... Thanks

    Your best bet for getting good value on a sim free 4g phone is Amazon. With the Euro sinking against sterling, it might be better to peruse the .de and .fr versions of the site. Amazon.de currently have daily deals and there are some phones coming up now and again, but I have yet to see a 4g one.


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    #19
    kn
    Registered Users Posts: 3,867 ✭✭✭kn


    Its only available in the main cities and Wexford. Plus they are charging €99 for a 4G mobile broadband device - feck that. Why would you want to be tied to 3 long-term by purchasing their device??


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    #20
    Beadyeye
    Registered Users Posts: 69 ✭✭Beadyeye


    Kristopherus wrote: »
    Your best bet for getting good value on a sim free 4g phone is Amazon. With the Euro sinking against sterling, it might be better to peruse the .de and .fr versions of the site. Amazon.de currently have daily deals and there are some phones coming up now and again, but I have yet to see a 4g one.

    Thanks for the advice, your dead right, I may sell the S3 while it still has some value and get a simfree 4g. I may check Amazon for one, hopefully the german site is cheaper for a Nexus 5!


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    #21
    moodrater
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,638 ✭✭✭moodrater


    kn wrote: »
    Its only available in the main cities and Wexford. Plus they are charging €99 for a 4G mobile broadband device - feck that. Why would you want to be tied to 3 long-term by purchasing their device??

    Fail to see the problem here. They are offering it free while they extend the network. For those who can get it(probably 1/3 of the poplulation given coverage areas) it means 6 months free 4g versus signing up to a 12 or 14 month contract with other networks. When you can't get it you still have 3g which is all your paying for anyway.

    The €99 device is on 3pay - no contract, everyone was charging about the same for the 3g mifi devices when they came out. I don't see anyone else in ireland offering it on prepay? You can get it free on contract with three same as meteor, vodafone.


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    #22
    The_Conductor
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    Dman001 wrote: »
    Same. Vodafone and O2 still bewilder me as to how much they continue to rip people off.

    Vodafone have given me a 'free' upgrade to 4G- as my phone is a 4G phone- aka, its the same charge as I would have paid for 3G- there is no differentiation between 3G and 4G. If the '3' offer is free- as in no charge whatsoever, great- if its the same as their 3G costs- they are simply aping the other suppliers.


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    #23
    crazygeryy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,065 ✭✭✭crazygeryy


    Sonics2k wrote: »
    Ah now, let's not do the rip off republic thing, the rates across the UK and US are mental too.

    Is 4g good? Has anyone tried it and is there a huge speed difference to 3g?


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    #24
    The_Conductor
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    crazygeryy wrote: »
    Is 4g good? Has anyone tried it and is there a huge speed difference to 3g?

    If you're in a marginal area for coverage- you will drop to 3G and HSDPA speeds- but I'll run speedtest.net on my phone when I'm out and about in a good area over the next few days- and post back the results. Where I am at the moment- I'm getting a download of 12Mb- I would expect this to vastly increase in a better area (though its quite respectable in its own right).


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    #25
    okedoke
    Registered Users Posts: 924 ✭✭✭okedoke


    I've been a three customer for 20 months now. I was happy for the first year or so but in the last 8/10 months the 3G speeds have gone off a cliff . It's common for me to get download speeds of way less than 1mbps often less than 0.1mbps which means no internet effectively. This happens in urban areas.

    Before you sign a contract get a free sim and check your signal over the course of a couple of weeks. Also have a look at the talk to three forum here - a lot of frustrated customers waiting out their contract periods (including me).

    I don't know if they will have similar issues with their 4g network.


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    #26
    witnessmenow
    Registered Users Posts: 7,028 ✭✭✭witnessmenow


    I've been with 3 for about 6 months or so.

    I think when you are on their network I think their speeds are fine, but once you roam to Vodafone or whoever they use you may as well not have internet, even simple things like a Google maps search can take ages, or not work at all.

    I'm on their €20 per month plan which I think is perfect for me. 15gb ("unlimited") of data and 350 flexi units (1 min or 2 texts). I don't think the fiver extra for 4g is a bad deal at all. Look at meteors plans, I think the highest cap they give is 6gb and that is expensive.

    To be honest I think people are being entitled to think this was going to be free. It's very rare any company will offer a new service for nothing.Didn't they have to buy a licence for this as well? Sky HD is an example. Someone mentioned efibre, they are only offering that at the same rates as UPC are so competitive.


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    #27
    Fingleberries
    Registered Users Posts: 3,386 ✭✭✭Fingleberries


    AlanS181824 wrote: »
    Wish I had a 4G phone right about now. :P
    Random question - If you put a 4G-enabled SIM into a non-4G phone, will it still work (but fall back to 3G or whatever the phone is capable of)?


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    #28
    CreepingDeath
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,016 ✭✭✭CreepingDeath


    whatawaster wrote: »
    It should be free, surely?

    According to their website...
    Three wrote:
    What is 4G?

    4G (LTE) gives you up to 10x faster data speeds. Meaning it’s the best internet experience on your phone or tablet yet. Stream, upload and download faster and smoother than ever.

    It’s data as it should be.

    So if it's data as it should be, then we're currently paying for data which is not as it should be.
    Mobile data is crap and patchy all across Dublin city.


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    #29
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 21,179 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Stuxnet wrote: »
    Ridiculous that they would charge for this, its a simple evolution of a technology standard, typical rip off republic, squeeze the feckers for everything

    Indeed, but just look at the amount of people that pay for the HD package from Sky.

    To think People would actually pay for a picture quality that should be standard in the first place for modern TV's is bewildering!

    SKY still transmit in mpeg 2 which was fine for a low resolution CRT TV back in 1998, it's mental people will pay for a HD package !!!

    But back to three, I thought the merger with 02 would mean better coverage ?

    While Three have 0 limits on their 3G I presume 4G is the same ? if so and I could get it, it might persuade me to ditch the poxy 6mb down and 300 kbps up Eircom line.

    Mobile operators don't realise the potential for a dsl replacement service .


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    #30
    crazygeryy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,065 ✭✭✭crazygeryy


    The_Conductor wrote: »
    If you're in a marginal area for coverage- you will drop to 3G and HSDPA speeds- but I'll run speedtest.net on my phone when I'm out and about in a good area over the next few days- and post back the results. Where I am at the moment- I'm getting a download of 12Mb- I would expect this to vastly increase in a better area (though its quite respectable in its own right).

    If that's 12 mb a min?that sounds v good to me.


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    #31
    nightster1
    Registered Users Posts: 543 ✭✭✭nightster1


    Dman001 wrote: »
    Same. Vodafone and O2 still bewilder me as to how much they continue to rip people off.

    don't praise three too much or they"ll jack up their prices


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