Orange finally prepping Web'n'walk competitor

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Closing the stable door after the horse has bolted?

Not quite... but it seems Orange are preparing to do something they should have done a long time ago - launch a competitor to the wildly popular T-Mobile Web'n'Walk flat rate data tariffs!

Unintentionally leaked to the Times Online and posted in an article entitled Orange cuts cost of plugging into the internet on a mobile phone 3G facts, the tarrifs shape up as follows:

Contract: Internet “snacks” – 30p for 15mins with daily cap of £1.50 or a “bundle” priced at £1 per day or £5 monthly for evening/ weekends or £8 monthly “anytime”

Pay-as-you-go: Internet snacks – 40p for 15 mins with daily cap of £2 or a daily £1 bundle

That's right... £8 per month for flat rate. Slightly more expensive than T-Mobile who come in at £7.50, but a definite winner for heavy data users such as those with Windows Mobile devices!

We don't have an official date for availability, but we understand the launch has been brought forward due to the tarrif disclosue, and will definitely be fully up and running by June.

What i'm interested to hear is whether any of our readers who have made the leap to T-Mobile (or elsewhere) will return, and what the general concensus is on the new deal?

Me, i'm staying with T-Mo for now! ;)

P

[Guest M1TNT]

[

What i'm interested to hear is whether any of our readers who have made the leap to T-Mobile (or elsewhere) will return, and what the general concensus is on the new deal?

Me, i'm staying with T-Mo for now! ;)

P

its about time !

I have sayed with Orange but then I had Open Access on my account witch seems to do the same job for me at the cost of £4 a month - no idea what the cap is but would be happy with a WnW sollution from Orange.

I will stay with Orange if this does come into play as I was starting to regret not moving in the fist place.

[Guest Lordsmiff]

What i'm interested to hear is whether any of our readers who have made the leap to T-Mobile (or elsewhere) will return, and what the general concensus is on the new deal?

Me, i'm staying with T-Mo for now! :D

P

I have to say, I like Orange - I've never had a problem with them whenever I've had an orange contract (which is probably two thirds of my "mobile life"...but...

...when I came to get a hermes, I managed to get a cracking deal on T-Mobile - Vario II for £95 on a Flext 20 w'n'w package (plus various special offer discounts). For me, the Flext tarriffs just beat the pants of other deals I've seen - I did phone Orange at the time as I liked the look of the M3100 more than the Vario II (hardward video key!!) but they wouldn't do any kind of price matching so I went to t-mob.

And now I've been with them a few months, I'm probably going to stay where I am - the service is excellent - great coverage, excellent CS, HSDPA, W'N'W, Flext - it all adds up to be a great set of packages ;)

Sorry orange, me 'n' the horse are "snacking" on t-mobile's oats ;-)

[Guest ripnet]

I jumped from Orange to TMob last year, purely for wnw

Has Orange got HSCMDA thing working yet? i get real good download speeds on T-Mob using my Hermes...

Having said that, I did really like Orange care, but im expecting to buy an offline device next year (the Tosh 900 - wvga), so that wont be a factor...

Also T-Mob have GREAT customer service, whereas Orange didnt seem to give a .... about me.

T-Mobs coverage seems to be fantastic as well - i got 3g in countryside in deepest kent last week...

In conclusion, if I get a new phone with a contract, I would go Orange for orange care, otherwise I would go T-Mob next time

g

[Guest chucky.egg]

I doubt I'd go back TBH

I've got another 6 months of T contract left, and I'll see what deals are around then, but I'm perfectly happy with T so see no reason to go back. O would have to beat the T deal, and offer the same sort of Flext way of doing things (that suits me really well)

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Yeah, I like flext, and the fact Customer Services can be contacted by the website and actually phone / SMS back ;)

P

[Guest Neil5459]

This could be good for me!

Orange is the only telco that can give a signal at my somewhat secluded cottage, so I've no choice in supplier. My M700 contract is new, but I can change the data element from OWA 25 to the new unlimited. My 2nd line is up for renewal soon as well, so I might try for an SPV 650 as a 'going out' phone ;)

[Guest Disco Stu]

I've stuck with Orange but have restricted my data use to keep my bills within reasonable limits. This is obviously annoying because I'm not getting full and proper useage of my devices.

So this is good news for me but I'd still be prepared to jump elsewhere if Orange don't come up with the right phones when I upgrade in the next few months. I'm not sure the Vox is what I want so I'm interested to know what they'll be taking on next.

[Guest modfather]

And with HSDPA now in almost every place I visit/work... this will be an absolute steal. I almost had a heart attack when I saw myself getting 160k/s from usenet whilst in london via my M3100. And now its in Birmingham, Dudley, Tipton... Orange is the one for me at the minute.

[Guest Neil5459]

In London yesterday (London Bridge) I got 700kbps when downloading a 1MB file. Very impressive watching the progress bar zoom along! Gneeral surfing is much slower due to the large number of small files being transferred.

[Guest gcparris]

I've just switched to T-Mobile from O and I ain't never going back, even with flat rate data access, their service has got so bad over the last few years I can't be bothered with them anymore, and that's after 12 years being on contract with them!

Gareth

Edited April 27, 2007 by gcparris

[Guest Chiz]

I've stuck with Orange but have restricted my data use to keep my bills within reasonable limits. This is obviously annoying because I'm not getting full and proper useage of my devices.

So this is good news for me but I'd still be prepared to jump elsewhere if Orange don't come up with the right phones when I upgrade in the next few months. I'm not sure the Vox is what I want so I'm interested to know what they'll be taking on next.

Yeah same as Disco Stu for me.

Nothing on T I fancy and I can't be bothered with the buy one handset, sell on E-Bay and buy a contract free one to get what I want.

It can be v annoying on O tho when my Gmail filter doesn't work and I end up with someone hitting my inbox with a large attachment. :rolleyes:

[Guest tmorel]

This could be enough to make me stay :rolleyes:

My local O store will be happy not to have me bitching every month when I go in to pay my bill *g*

[Guest Confucious]

Roll on Q4 2007 when they actually plan to release this.

I doubt if I'll go back to O after experiencing decent CS from T-Mobilke (a breath of fresh air!) but for all the people who can't get T receoption (espacially those in the West country wheer O are particularly strong) this is just what they need. if it has the same lack of restrictions as the existing OWU which a few people have got it is actually cheaper than the equiv T plan - unfortunatly there voice/Text plans still can't macth Flext for me.

[Guest carphead]

I'm with T-Mobile and my 18 month contract is up in 2 months. I was planning on switching to O2 who've got excellent coverage in my area. Orange coverage is okay but T-Mobile and Vodafone suck for coverage.

But I love the Flex T tariffs and WnW. :rolleyes:.

Now trying to decide if I should switch to Orange or O2. It'll most likely end up with O2 and hope that O2 bring out a flat data rate.

[Guest jimbouk]

I am sure the other networks will try to compete on data. Three have launched their £5 a month package now and O's £8 OWU is obviously now going to be opened up to most contract customers.

Only problem I have is that I now get HSDPA with O at home and across most of London so I hate leaving London and having to put up with "only" 3g!

[Guest Monolithix (MVP)]

Only took them 4 years to get back to where they started :rolleyes:

[Guest jimbouk]

You guys have got to remember that the networks are all frantically running around trying to come up with a truly workable "fusion" type product... where your one handset works at home as a dect/voip, on the road as a mobile and within range of wifi access points as a VOIP phone - all for voice and data usage.

With 96% of revenues derived from voice, and with the huge proportion of data income coming from corporate accounts rather than personal customers, it is understandable that O, V and O2 didnt prioritise data packages for modaco type customers. (Even if they collectively had £22.5 billion tied up in 3G).

Edited April 28, 2007 by jimbouk

[Guest pd.ryder]

It's all too little, too late from Orange IMHO.

OCS is absolute *pants* and although they seem to have the (rather large) edge on T with respect to coverage, I can't see me choosing to hop back to O once my 18 months with T expires.

I did read the Times Online report regarding Orange's gracious move toward flat-rate data and I couldn't help but post a scathing comment pointing out their rather dismal attitude toward mobile data users. I was particularly incensed by the article's slant on this company's ground-breaking idea of mobile users eventually using 'mini-computers' to stay in touch with the world around them. Haven't we been doing that for several years now, while the likes of Orange in particular have continued to make it horrendously expensive to do so?

This information was "unintentionally leaked" was it? My a*se! Far more likely the product of some slimey marketing exec sitting in 'Orange Towers' counting his big fat bonus.

They can keep their Animal Tariffs and marketing bull-sh*t. Much too little, much too late. Not impressed.

[Guest Dr Who]

TMob CS is light years ahead of OCS, who quite frankly suck ar*e. In fact they are worse than that. They are like the bacteria that feed on the slime that feed on the pond scum.

However TMob have a reputation of offering very poor upgrade fees and I don't like playing the PAYG merry-go-round with numbers when taking a new contract out with your existing supplier so more companies offering flat fee data will be good come upgrade time. Never taking an 18 month contract again!

[Guest travisb]

Staying put with T-Mob. I had a contract with Orange as well which has just run out (needed other phone due to 'signal dificulties' with T-Mob at home). Got a really good deal with 3 and added XSeries to it, so I'll see how that goes. The Moto deal has come a little too late, but I wouldn't have got half price line rental for the life of the contract anyway. Have to say I've been impressed with 3CS so far.

[Guest shadamehr]

We should have had a POLL attached to this thread Paul, methinks, as I have seen loads of the "too little, too late" comments.

And mine is another of the same - it's too little, too late for me.

To be fair, that's not entirely correct - it might not be too little (though at 50p more than the WnW offering, technically it IS still 'too little' anyway), but it's certainly too late.

And to contrast some of the defence based posts of Orange (which I am genuinely pleased for you, if yours is better coverage etc), I too find that T-Mobile:

1) Offer much better CS - by far.

2) Offer better coverage for me - including blazing HSDPA

3) Offer a good range of devices, despite what one comment alleges.

And just to be clear, as someone with my main voice call contract still with O2, a Flext 35 + WnW contract with T-Mobile with 25% off BOTH elements for life, used mainly for my data and leisure, and an Orange old 3000 texts a month contract for our lass for her incessant texting, I KNOW all about each Network - I am NOT a biased user of just one particular Net, to the unfair criticism of another.

The old adage rings true - the worst Operator is whatever one you just jumped ship from, the best is always the new one you just signed up with, until you jump ship from them in the future" *lol*

Nah, Having a good Flext deal, having the ORIGINAL unlimited WnW without the extra restrictions, and having BOTH elements with 25% off for life due to when I signed up, coupled with a Vario 2, excellent coverage with HSDPA, and good customer service, what else could I ask for - a cherry on the top???

Orange, you really are too little, too late, for all but those that have to rely on you exclusively for coverage where they live, is my humblest of UNBIASED opinions!

[Guest jimbouk]

The old adage rings true - the worst Operator is whatever one you just jumped ship from, the best is always the new one you just signed up with, until you jump ship from them in the future" *lol*

Well said!

[Guest pjheliking]

TMob CS is light years ahead of OCS, who quite frankly suck ar*e. In fact they are worse than that. They are like the bacteria that feed on the slime that feed on the pond scum.

However TMob have a reputation of offering very poor upgrade fees and I don't like playing the PAYG merry-go-round with numbers when taking a new contract out with your existing supplier so more companies offering flat fee data will be good come upgrade time. Never taking an 18 month contract again!

Orange has upgraded to the so called edge service. it is now one of the only networks in the uk to transmit and recieve data at almost double of the competitors. Although vodaphone say they can transmit 160kbs is utter bull well it is at the moment orange understate what they can do to keep customers happy. And the owa free homepage and free orange browsing within orange sites was due to be released sooner but due to network instability this isnt possible at them moment

[Guest Samsonite]

Orange has upgraded to the so called edge service. it is now one of the only networks in the uk to transmit and recieve data at almost double of the competitors. Although vodaphone say they can transmit 160kbs is utter bull well it is at the moment orange understate what they can do to keep customers happy. And the owa free homepage and free orange browsing within orange sites was due to be released sooner but due to network instability this isnt possible at them moment

hmmmm....

EDGE is an enhanced GPRS system and can offer about 160kbit if all the download channels are allocated to the session you are on.... 3G it aint!! UMTS (3G) will offer 384kbit no matter what. HSDPA CAN offer up to 3.6Mbit but i think the current offerings are only at 1.8Mbit or thereabouts. so if anyone on 3G, whether its Orange, T-Mobile, o2, Voda or 3, there aint no way EDGE is a faster service!

as for the network instability aspect of your post - what exactly have the O training department been feeding the retailers?