[Ben]

More confirmation of what we already knew, but it would appear that O2 has definitely gone down the EDGE road.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mobile-phones/news/2007/09/10/O2-Upgrades-To-EDGE-iPhone-In-The-Bag/p1

[3g-g]

I've a distinct feeling the iPhone isn't going to do as well here as Apple hope it will, not 'till it's 3G anyway!

And two corrections from that Trusted review page;


...late last week O2 became the first (and likely only) UK operator to bother to 'upgrade' (a loose term if ever there was one) its GPRS network to EDGE - the data standard the infamously 3G-less iPhone uses.

No they didn't. Orange did that quite a while ago.


From a technical point of view, performing the switch requires no great shakes. In fact all that is needed is a software patch to existing base stations, so it begs the question: Why haven't other networks done this?

Again, it's not just a SW upgrade, because if it was everyone would of done it and we'd of had EDGE ages ago. It's SW on the network controlling side of things, it still needs new hardware on the base station side.

Anyway. I feel better now that we're all clear on things. :)

[Hands0n]

Y'know - apart from basic telephony and text, O2 have muffed up every single venture they've laid hands on. They are legend for snatching failure from the hands of success. I remain to be convinced that the Apple iPhone will do as well here as it did in the USA, and that it will give O2 the income boost that they hope it will. I honestly believe that O2 will be lucky to break even within the first year of operating the iPhone on their "EDGE-upgraded" network.

And meanwhile, the rest of the civilised world (America excepted) will progress along the UMTS road.

[3g-g]

You know on an EDGE cell the moment you have a few users taking the bandwidth (downloading their email and new tunes from iTunes as I'm sure they will) it'll be just as slow as bog standard GPRS. It'll take a couple of reviews of the UK iPhone stating it's slow as a week in jail for data and that'll be it, dead in the water.

There'll be users who want it as a fashion thing, not bothering about the data side of things... but, I presume it'll be unsubsidised like the US version, and it doesn't do MMS iirc! So to send pictures to someone with an iPhone you'll need to email it to them, which they'll need to transfer over the deadly slow EDGE connection they have! Nightmare!

Apple could have taken Europe, nae, the majority of the civilised GSM world had they made this a UMTS/WCDMA handset. Even if the 1st gen version had a few bugs, we'd of coped. They've missed a trick, and all the far East punters, and the likes of Nokia, will have a 3G version of a touch screen phone out before Apple do here.

[miffed]

What surprises me is that Apple are seemingly oblivious to this !?

How difficult would it have been to put a 3G radio in the bloody thing ?

[Hands0n]

What surprises me is that Apple are seemingly oblivious to this !?

I think that it is entirely to be expected of an American company which really does not appreciate the Global market in terms of mobile networks. Its all very well selling a standard Mac or iPod - but as we all know only too well, when it comes to mobile telephony the network standards rule!

[solo12002]

" I think that it is entirely to be expected of an American company which really does not appreciate the Global market in terms of mobile networks"

Funny that, it sounds just like o2, i mode, no data plans worth talking about and I forgot no 3G either lol