4G on EE

[NetworkGuy]

If the pricing info on http://www.stuff.tv/news/phone/news-nugget/ee-4g-prices-and-launch-date-announced? Stuff.tv is correct, then I think EE will either be laughing their way to the bank, with unhappy customers feeling ripped off when they get charged for excess data, or will have limited market share and a costly couple of years rolling out 4G support for those who do go ahead.

I have used more than 1.5 GB in a single day on Three on a deal costing approx 15 quid a month but EE4G will be 36 to 56 quid offering 500 MB to only 8 GB.

Yes, unlimited minutes and texts (but no doubt some 'fair use' limits in small print) on EE4G but as one is paying for high speed, the data limits are poor, IMO.

Link: Stuff.tv

me too actually. Im on the one plan which is unlimited internet Google Search for One Plan . In my opinion this is probably the best internet deal for mobiles in the UK.

I won't be going for 4g despite EE's kind offer to return my iPhone 5 then buy a new phone and contract

As I don't live on one of the cities in line gir the first roll out, not only is it a rip off but I would actually get the high speed data either .....

I think I'll wait for 2 years and then get a new phone and contract when it's all moved on a bit.....

I just wish EE would make their existing 3G network work properly near my office (no mobile Internet available apparently, in the square mile ffs)

Certainly won't be paying them for 4G!

If you used 1.5GB in one day on your phone, then then you're doing it wrong.

I'm a pretty heavy user, but most of my data usage is actually over my unlimited WiFi. 1GB per month is plenty.

I don't think the pricing is that bad really, it's around £5 more per month than the 3g equivalent. EE are taking a mass adoption strategy compared to some of the outrageous pricing scales in the States.

Personally I don't think it's worth making the switch just yet as I'm not in one of the launch cities, but I will be upgrading next week to a 4G ready phone so I can make the switch when it becomes viable.

No, you're not a heavy user, Pedro, you're just not using it the way I do, but there's no 'right' or 'wrong' about it, just 'different'.

I do browse, e-mail, and play some game now and then, but have radio and webcam apps which cause the download level. I've not found similar resources for Windows or iMac to the ones I'm using on Android, so even if I wanted to use such services on my home systems, there's no equivalent, AFAIK.

Additionally my home network has a 60 GB 'daylight hours' traffic limit each month, and it's a bit of a handicap at times (if I don't keep my eye on usage) as I am sometimes remote controlling someone's PC to get rid of a virus or whatever so keep the home network traffic related to work (and I typically hit 150 GB a month, luckily overnight use isn't counted). When FTTC is available, I will be able to switch to have 250 GB allowance each month (still unmetered overnight) so can have more systems active simultaneously then.

The phone use is mostly for fun (whether at home or out) and as Three describe it as the network set up for the internet, I just make a bit more use of it than most.

As for cost, well if one had limited need for chatting on the phone there's a Three account at 6.90 to which can be added the unlimited (OK, they call it 'all you can eat' !) internet option for another 3 quid a month, so for a tenner it is possible to get 'unlimited' data at which point 36 to 56 quid a month for capped 4G service (at a higher speed, so you can use it up that bit faster) seems all the more money-grabbing to me.

I'm spending under 17.50 at present (it would have been less if I had used a cashback site like Quidco or TCB before getting this deal) so next time I will be getting a 'new' 6.90/month SIM only deal and cashback as well, with a bit of luck...

SuzanneC1 - The One Plan's main advantage over other Three plans is that it includes the ability to Tether (ie use your mobile as a hotspot and let another device or devices such as laptop, tablet, or a mobile with limited data allowance, use the Three mobile instead of a wireless router at home/ office).

I know various Apple and Android smartphones are available on the One Plan but some can be used on other SIM only contracts (unless you are always wanting to switch to a new phone each 18/ 24 months).

You can get unlimited internet on several of their other deals, either with a phone (eg Samsung Galaxy Ace, at 13/month) or from a SIM only deal.

They have priced the Ultimate Internet 200 (200 minutes) at 12.90 and the 12 month Essential Internet 600 (600 minutes) at the same price. However, if someone only needed 200 minutes, they could get the Essential Internet 200 (12 month) SIM at 6.90 and for 3 quid add all you can eat internet.

I know these don't compare with the One Plan at 2000 minutes, and 5000 minutes to other Three customers, but I suspect they put massive figures on to encourage people to spend 25 quid a month, when they perhaps use a fraction of those minutes (I know I have plenty left from 600 most months, and I speak to 3 sisters and various friends most weeks!)

Only pointing it out so when your One Plan contract reaches 24 (?) months, you can consider whether to renew or go to a cashback site and get money back while starting a brand new Three contract. (NB you'd need to ask for the PAC and switch for a few days to another network - eg get a 5 quid ASDA SIM and move your number to them, then start a fresh contract with Three via a cashback website, and move your current number back to Three.)

Just checked and Quidco are offering 41.67 cashback to someone signing up for the "Essential Internet SIM only 200" 12 Month (that's the one at 6.90 a month, so it is like 4 months free based on spending 9.90 a month, if one added the 3 quid 'all you can eat' internet option (need to do that after SIM is active by talking to Three).

I mentioned the SIM deals at 12.90 because it looks like they were priced to encourage someone to switch to the 600 minute SIM (it worked with me, then again, I needed to make use of it a lot more at the start of the contract and was hitting 550 minutes use a month then). The extra 3 quid for unlimited (with no penalty charges for exceeding the limit) certainly made sense for me and now I am hitting 30 GB usage a month.

www.three.co.uk/Discover/Built_for_internetting

worth a look, if only for the diagram... chap in local Three store was telling me that EE's network will be marginally faster (8x 3G) than Three (5x 3G) so they are not depending on 4G and the auction of spectrum doesn't go ahead until next year anyway, so that's when O2 and Vodafone will be digging deep to find tens or hundreds of millions to get on the 4G bandwagon.

LTE an initialism of Long Term Evolution, marketed as 4G LTE (as offered by EE)

From Wikipedia regarding DC-HSDPA (which is what Three is moving to)

Dual Cell (DC-)HSDPA, known also as Dual Carrier, is the natural evolution of HSPA by means of carrier aggregation in the downlink.[2] UMTS licenses are often issued as 10 or 15 MHz paired spectrum allocations. The basic idea of the multicarrier feature is to achieve better resource utilization and spectrum efficiency by means of joint resource allocation and load balancing across the downlink carriers.

An advanced HSPA network can theoretically support up to 28 Mbit/s and 42 Mbit/s with a single 5 MHz carrier for Rel7 (MIMO with 16QAM) and Rel8 (64-QAM + MIMO), in good channel conditions with low correlation between transmit antennas. An alternative method to double the data rates is to double the bandwidth to 10 MHz (i.e. 2x5MHz) by using DC-HSDPA.