Qualcomm and Teleepoch
Enter Into a 3G CDMA Subscriber Unit License Agreement, October
6, 2007
MTN chooses Cambridge Broadband
Networks for multi-service wireless network in Rwanda, October 6,
2007
Brazilian government to
publish 3G bidding rules soon, October 6, 2007
KTF 3G service suffers
from technical problems, October 6, 2007
Argentina’s Personal
lunches 3G service in Rosario, October 6, 2007
Russia has it's first 3G
network, October 6, 2007
AT&T could drop Alcatel-Lucent
as 3G mobile network supplier, October 6, 2007
Enea Extends License Agreement
with ZTE for 3G Handsets, October 2, 2007
LG to unveil premium handsets
in Brazil, October 2, 2007
KTF 3G subscribers doubled
in less than 3 months, October 2, 2007
3G policy in India will
be non-uniform, October 2, 2007
- previous news
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The verdict from the consumers on Three
July 13, 2003
Three has now launched its 3G service for just over three months and
since we have now been using the e606 and A830 for sometime in the UK,
we plan to give our verdict on both phones and the 3 services. We decided
to give our verdict now because it is always hard to give a fair reflection
of a product based on first impressions after only testing it for a short
period of time. Our first impressions on the handsets when we visited
the 3 shop were that they were massive and bulky but with a decedent enough
data service from 3.
"Handsets are far Toooo bulky, which will
stop some users"
"the a830 with the camera on is a little bulky but will fit in
a pocket and without the camera is not really much bigger than my last
phone the Siemens 45 and personally I don't want my phones to get any
smaller than that."
The first set of monthly packages certainly included generous monthly
allowances but at a very hefty price of at least £60. Three were
confident of signing up customers by marketing new 3G data services but
at the beginning of last month it has resorted to offering cheaper voice
calls to attract customers. For £25 a month users have 500 minutes
included for calls to any mobile network and at anytime of the day. The
other four big operators are only offering 200 minutes of calls to any
network but for an average monthly fee of £30. Even though this
is the case, there are a few factors consumers should consider before
migrating to 3.
"the tariffs are very competitive for customer
with a high voice utilisation."
"the VideoTalk 750 rate is very competitive with free handset.
I believe rest of the plans are also good value for money."
The first problem is the size of the handsets. Our first thoughts on
the e606 and A830 when we first saw them were that they were long in length
and thick in size. No one can argue that the 3 handsets are small and
if you compare them the smaller 2G handsets then you will be wondering
why should I sign up to 3. If your first impression of the handsets was
massive when you visited the 3 shop, two months down the line the same
thoughts still holds. The A830 is a little bit more awkward because of
its length. It can just about fit into the pockets of some jeans but sitting
down is not comfortable. It is slightly better if you don't have the camera
attached. The e606 is thicker in size but shorter in length, but because
it is a flip-phone, you don't really notice the size and at 150g it is
not really a big problem for most users.
Navigating the 3 services on both phones can be a nuisance because of
some slowdown which is annoying as you are not sure what you have highlighted
or selected.
"All I will say is that the phone doesn't
deliver on key features like Bluetooth, data, java and the UI is pretty
pants."
As for the services itself, it is what you expected, news, games, video
clips download, location based services, etc. Content is so thin, everything
can be viewed in just under 2 hours. Not only that but you could be happily
browsing one minute and the next minute you find that the next page cannot
be displayed and no longer able to browse the contents. The NEC e606 for
some particular reason takes twice as long to download a video clip as
it does on the A830. Users will have to be careful when playing games
as instead of being charged for each game downloaded, you are charged
for each "single play". Alternatively, A830 owners with an infra
port on their computers can upload Java games with the Midway software
(downloaded from the internet). At the moment Java games cannot be uploaded
to the e606 and must be downloaded from the 3 service. This has really
annoy some e606 users.
As with both handsets users can transfer music, wallpaper, ring tones
and video clips from their computers via cables that are supplied with
the handsets. The e606 can only play wma music files while the A830 can
only play mp3 files. Both handsets play the mp4 and 3gp video format.
The e606 only has 32MB of memory while the A830 includes a 32MD SD card
that is upgradable to 512MB. Generally for the same piece of music quality,
wma files are smaller in size than mp3s, but are slightly more harder
to find on the internet. Charging the battery to the full is definitely
a must if you plan to listen to the music for long hours as you will soon
find out the battery goes flat quickly once you make or receive a few
calls. Bringing an extra battery (supplied with the handset) is advisable.
The video playback on both phones is not bad but because of the A830's
larger screen, it makes viewing better than the e606 even though it supports
only 4096 colours and not the 65,000 colours on the e606.
Three were having problems with drop calls at the beginning of the launch
in the UK and the problem still existing today when moving from 3G area
coverage to 2G coverage.
"3G coverage is unreliable. Mostly I can't
get it where I live, but sometimes I can."
"I know it will drop the call moving from a 3G cell to a 2G one
but to drop the amount that it does while on the move makes it virtually
impossible for me to use it…"
Drop calls is a persistent problem even in city areas such as London
which drops about 1 in 8 calls. As well as drop calls, users may find
that calls may not connect straight away despite having a reasonable signal.
A screen will pop up to say that the call failed and asks you whether
to retry again. The problem exist even when calling to landline numbers
and failing two or three times despite knowing that the call should have
connected on the first try.
Be warn, users to 3 might need to carry two phones: "Yep.
Carrying an old Siemens SL45 2G phone for calls on PayT (T-Mobile) and
use my 3 phone for non-important calls and texts."
The feeling at the start was that the e606 was the better phone to get,
slick design, smaller in size and weight and call do video conferencing.
The e606 was also more readily available than the A830 therefore making
it the popular handset to get. But since then, there has been a shift
towards the A830 as it can do more than the e606. Although lacking a video
conferencing facility, the A830 makes up for it in other departments such
as infra-red, a better working Bluetooth, Java application upload from
computer and a bigger screen.
Is it worth signing up to 3? Probably not if you're expected much more
services than current 2G networks. The new services are only really video
conferencing, video messages, video clip downloads and location based
services. If you have no need for any of these then don't bother. However,
the technology is fairly new and there are some frustrating problems,
but some users have already seen improvements in the service.
"I have witnessed a noticeable improvement
in both quality of customer service and technical issues over the last
couple of weeks, if they continue at this rate....it will be worth all
the waiting and frustrations that we have endured."
"They are expanding their "limited" services slowly ie
video clips"
Those who sign up to 3 would probably take advantage of the cheap voice
call offers, but the handsets are a big put off. It's too big and the
battery life is short. If on the other hand you have a 2G handset that
can accept the 3 USIM card then signing up just for the cheap voice calls
is worth considering. As a word of caution, the 3 USIM has an application
that rejects its use on 2G handsets meaning that a majority of 2G models
cannot be used with the USIM card. With calling problems and drop calls,
the question is whether you will be able to make the most of your free
minutes.
Some users felt that they are a guinea pig for 3, "we
should not be having to pay for a system that is not fully functioning
and barely working, that's what you would get a beta tester for."
The stall in 3's network launch last year did not boast well for them
and despite the launch in March there is very little 3 can smile about.
Yes, they offer great voice call deals but for a company that is the face
of 3G in the UK and Italy, its 3G data service fails to delivery. Network
problems and overwhelming customer dissatisfaction has meant an unhappy
start to its 3G venture. Three has learnt much from its launch in the
UK, Italy and Australia and hope is that they will be able to amend the
problems before starting services in other countries. It will need to
work hard to obtain new customer as well as keeping its customers after
12 months. Founders may feel slightly ripped off or fooled as they have
not benefited from their early interests. They were promised half price
handsets for signing up to 3 but subscribers to 3 one month later were
getting half price handsets anyway.
"3 will have to work hard not only to make
new customers but also to retain those who have signed up for the services."
"My investment in three handset has diminished and as a result
have lost 300 pounds because I was fooled into Three's marketing founder
bullsh#t."
Most negative points commented by users
Poor customer service:
"Some of the CS staff are excellent and
others are dreadful"
"It took me one hour to speak to the staff (customer service) on
phone, I called five times which wasted me five hours."
Cannot port number:
"I have had the phone over two months now
and they still haven't ported my number."
Drop calls:
"Call dropouts are frequent, if you can
even connect a call that is. "
"The clincher for me is the poor network coverage. Call dropouts
are frequent, if you can even connect a call that is."
No proper Internet access:
"In my opinion 3 has made a fatal mistake
in not offering high speed data access outside of their walled garden."
Most positive points commented by users
Great package:
"500 minute anytime for £25 and 750
minute anytime for £35 are a bargain"
Fun:
"Video calling is fun…"
"The camera and vid camera are free and cool to use for personal
use"
Overall comments on 3
"Quite happy with the services offered by
Three. The only point I like to make is that I still have to carry an
extra phone because of drop calls."
"In summary, 3 services are great and everyone
I show the phone to thinks the same and when they do sort the drop out
problem life will be perfect."
"Whilst the video calls have impressed me,
it means f**k all if you can't actually use the phone normally or check
through to customer services."
"Overall I am happy enough with it even
though I'm experiencing a few call problems. . ."
"These are not 3G related problems (customer
service and billing); these are basic functions of a mobile phone network.
That is what worries me the most. If Three can't get the basics right,
what hope do we have of them running a decent 3G network?"
"I'm pretty disappointed with my e606 and
3 overall so far."
"Im not a phone expert, but generally they
seem as like really nice phones that do everything well, I've always
liked Nokia, but the e606 seems nicer."
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3G Motorola A920
