Ben's Talk3G Blog

Several of you were right to be sceptical when O2's new 3G900 coverage maps got me all excited. Coverage maps, after all, rarely reflect real life experience, and Ofcom has proven sorely ineffective at remedying this farce.

But for me, the reality of 3G900 has been a lot closer to O2's projected coverage than you'd think. It's actually scarily accurate, and as I've explored Canterbury today I've been surprised by the breadth and depth of O2's 3G coverage, which is probably comparable to, and may even top, Three's (locally).

It'll come as little surprise given O2's diabolically sparse 3G rollout that most of my time has been spent on 3G900 as opposed to the 2100MHz variant. If you've got an iPhone, open the Field Test app by dialling *3001#12345#*. Then go to UMTS Cell Environment, UMTS RR Info, and check UARFCN. If it's low, like, under 3000, you're on 3G900. If it's high, like, 10,000, you're on 3G2100.

Thing is, now O2 are rolling out 3G at 900MHz, I can see that being pretty flippin' fantastic. I've got 3G inside ancient buildings in Canterbury that 2100MHz just can't touch. Sure, LTE at 800MHz will be nice, but we're talking 2013-2014 for that, and this is available right now!

Something else I've missed? Visual Voicemail. A true innovation, and I find it hard to understand why more networks haven't rolled it out. Sure, there are alternatives out there, but, and call me old-fashioned, I like to get my voicemail from my network. Simple-as.

There's a bit of a flaw in this otherwise rosy picture of O2 that I'm painting. Femtocell strategy is pretty dire... Only Business customers with 10 or more connections are eligible for femtocells at this time, and O2 supplies its Boost Box in a 4 user state for £150 and an 8 user state for £250. That's concurrent users; you can have a much larger number registered to a box AFAIK. Still, that the general public can't get their hands on this technology is disappointing, and if I wasn't able to abuse my position as a company director to swing a Boost Box I'd not be able to consider O2 at all due to no signal at home on any network.

Back to the positives. O2's customer service, despite my early experience, has been remarkable. Online web chat is an innovation that a network like Three should really have embarked on. O2 use Live Person, a service I use myself in business due to its true excellence in the field, to put customers into MSN-style live conversations with staff who can actually do things. I've done everything from order, swap SIMs, and get Visual Voicemail activated via this service, and it's always pretty quick and efficient. When I've needed to call up (to order 8 connections to get a Boost Box, ahem) the agents have been helpful and courteous. There's still room for things to go wrong yet, but with a touch of some wood and a sprinkling more of good CS I could have a Boost Box and my number ported by the end of next week.

Can I believe I'm running back into the arms of O2? No, not really. It's not a company I've ever really believed in. What's more, their tariffs are a little un-inspiring and a little expensive. But the network works, for me, and that's priority number one. Always has been; it's why I left Orange for Vodafone. It's why I use Three for my iPad. The difference is that last time I joined O2 it was for the iPhone. This time I'm choosing to be with them, because I honestly believe that 3G900 is a market-leading proposition.

See what you can do? Vodafone, take a close look at O2; you've been beat. Wouldn't have happened under Sarin.