T Mobile and Orange network merger

[Guest Stevos]

Possibly good news for those of us on T-Mobile: We will soon be able to use the Orange network as well for no extra charge.

http://gizmodo.com/5630892/t+mobile-and-or...s-both-networks

Register here: http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/coming-soon/share/

I'm looking forward to better 3G coverage in London...

[Guest JohnPorter]

Sounds good, have registered for more details!

[Guest JimJam707]

Awesome news :P

My brother gets great orange signal here :)

[Guest Stevos]

T Mob coverage (especially 3G) seems very patchy around London amongst other places, hopefully this will help out...

[Guest Azurren]

I can get orange 3g at home :P

Good for when the wifi plays up

[Guest Daz555]

Nothing good at all about less competition in the market. One less company to move to if you are unhappy with your current service or price.

[Guest Spoke]

Only 2G included in the first part of the merger.

Me - I'd settle for a signal from any network without having to hang out of the bedroom window :P

[Guest Azurren]

Nothing good at all about less competition in the market. One less company to move to if you are unhappy with your current service or price.

As far as I know Orange and Tmobile are still staying independent. They are just "Sharing" their towers in a bid to crush the opposition.

Only 2G included in the first part of the merger.

Me - I'd settle for a signal from any network without having to hang out of the bedroom window :P

Yeah I just found out.. SUCKS!

Edited September 6, 2010 by Azurren

[Guest Daz555]

As far as I know Orange and Tmobile are still staying independent. They are just "Sharing" their towers in a bid to crush the opposition.

Initially yes. However it does not change the fact that these two companies are not in competition with each other any longer - just as LloydsTSB no longer competes with Halifax - the brands are just window dressing and little more than headed notepaper at the end of the day.

The key factor which tells you what a bad idea this is for the consumer is that both 02 and Vodafone seem to welcome the deal (depsite them both wanting T-Mob for themselves initially). They obviously see a market reduced to just 3 big players as more profitable than one with 4. And they are right - reduced competition means higher prices for the consumer and greater dividends for the shareholder.

Edited September 6, 2010 by Daz555

[Guest Simon O]

I was reading about this on BBC News and I never knew that T-Mobile and 3 have a 50/50 partnership in a company called Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL) which runs the 3G network both providers connect to. I've always wondered why the 3G signal where I live is bad on 3 and T-Mobile, but not other networks. Now I know why.. they use the same base station.

Due to Orange & T-Mobile UK merging to create Everything Everywhere, Orange will have access to the 2G mobile network currently run by T-Mobile from October 2010. Orange joined MBNL on the 16th August 2010 which will allow them to merge the current Orange 3G network into MBNL creating one massive network used by Orange, T-Mobile, 3 and virtual operators such as Virgin Mobile. I expect this to happen sometime next year.

It wouldn't surprise me if we see the T-Mobile name disappear from the UK in the next 2-3 years and replaced by the Orange brand, or even rebranded to Everything Everywhere.

And what if (and a bit if) Hutchison 3G decide to take over Everything Everywhere? That would transform '3' overnight from a small player in the UK market to the second largest mobile network, or even THE largest. Ok so that's unlikely to happen but it's interesting to think that 3 have their fingers in a rather tasty Orange/T-Mobile pie just from the 3G network.

[Guest]

I was reading about this on BBC News and I never knew that T-Mobile and 3 have a 50/50 partnership in a company called Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL) which runs the 3G network both providers connect to. I've always wondered why the 3G signal where I live is bad on 3 and T-Mobile, but not other networks. Now I know why.. they use the same base station.

That's a handy bit of info, as I've always wondered why 3 was so poor in my area.

I'm switching to GiffGaff soon as it runs on the o2 network which is remarkably better in my area. Whenever I'm travelling, I lose signal so often on T-Mobile it's not really worth it.

[Guest Simon O]

That's a handy bit of info, as I've always wondered why 3 was so poor in my area.

I'm switching to GiffGaff soon as it runs on the o2 network which is remarkably better in my area. Whenever I'm travelling, I lose signal so often on T-Mobile it's not really worth it.

Any operator running on o2 will have better service as the masts have been around for a very long time.

[Guest Stevos]

Nothing good at all about less competition in the market. One less company to move to if you are unhappy with your current service or price.

I have mixed feelings about this. Of course more companies that compete with each other is good for the consumer and the industry, but at the moment apparently no individual network is able to give me what I consider to be an acceptable level of coverage (especially data) for all the areas I go to (And this is mainly London... I'm totally screwed in some of the outlying areas of the country I go to)

Having a choice is important, but having at least one network that can fulfil basic coverage requirements seems important too: It's no good to me that I can choose a dozen different priced and QOS providers if none of them work. Maybe this merger thing will at least mean there are enough resources to run one network competently.

On the other hand, we will all end up being shafted by the massive telecoms giants with no proper competition.

Edited September 7, 2010 by Stevos

[Guest mark2410]

just to comment on O2 v tmob obviously i got a puls and immediately bought the 6 months data but have recently been tempted by giffgaff. i really love the idea of it and its super cheap too but what worried was O2's data network which you always hear bad things about. O2 have great 2G coverage but their 3G network is just terrible. im constantly being knocked down to 2g for no apparent reason, it randomly doesnt work and 3g coverage is just terrible. if i was being kicked down to edge that would be fine but no, its to gprs which is so slow as to make maps and stuff unusable.

if your thinking about moveing to O2 i strongly suggest you teste them for a week or two first, they good far calling and texting but awful for data

[Guest aldaweb]

No problems with O2 here (HD2 dual boot) or with giffgaff which is in my pulse now. Normally have HSDPA connection but with those areas with edge that's all I get on t-mo too.

Just using t-mo sim for my BB using the 6MONTHBB for £20.

[Guest Delta1292]

anyone know if this will affect Virgin mobile customers as i believe that virgin 'floats' on t-mob signal (at least in the uk)

[Guest Simon O]

anyone know if this will affect Virgin mobile customers as i believe that virgin 'floats' on t-mob signal (at least in the uk)

No. Virgin will continue to provide it's services.