Ben's Talk3G Blog

I've been with O2 before with the iPhone 3G/3GS. I remember well that "No Service" message where my signal bars should be, and the utter shock whenever anything faster than an E appeared on the display. Oh yes, O2 aren't exactly renowned for their 3G rollout success...

Since then I've been with Vodafone, and to start with it was just fine. I was getting the experience I was expecting, having used their data cards and dongles since the beginning. However, not long after the iPhone 4 launched 'officially' on Vodafone I started seeing service degradation, and unfortunately that situation has never really been rectified. The crux of the problem seems to be that, for the whole of the town centre in Canterbury, Vodafone has but a picocell on the Vodafone shop. It's obliterated. Upgrades are planned, but Vodafone won't give me a date, and I've been waiting for years. Vodafone also appear to be steadfastly refusing a 3G900 rollout. What a waste.

O2, on the other hand, have grasped 3G900 by the horns and ridden it into town.



One minute O2 can't cover the whole high street (despite having better coverage of it than, urgh, Vodafone), then roll on 3G900, which the iPhone 4 and 4S both support, and hallelujah, we have 3G!

I have a SIM on the way so that I can see just how well these coverage maps translate to real life, but honestly, the prospect of having usable data on my iPhone again is rather exciting.