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Three's 3G Switch-Off

IIRC launch era Three was unique in that they didn't provide any internet access at all. The business model was that you'd do everything within their walled garden. They didn't want you using WAP to access BBC News when you could pay 20p to watch a video clip of ITN headlines.

I had the candybar version of that NEC (I actually wanted the Motorola but Woolworths didn't have it) and remember doing exactly that precisely once, in the middle of a supermarket lol (I lived in a rural area so could only experience 3G when I was in town). I don't think most people cared about the new features. I had friends at school who had the 616 and even the LG flip phone even though there was no 3G coverage in the area.

Of course the 2G roaming agreement was originally with O2 and moved to Orange later on. I have it in my head that GPRS did work while roaming - but most of the walled garden would be locked out. I could be imagining that though.

you're talking about much much further back. I had a ZTE flip phone in 2006 like that, could only give you select data services from Three (sort of like a walled-garden), such as MSN Messenger, and sports subscriptions, I believe they even trialed an OTA TV service using 3G broadcast, although I never tried it.

I later had a Nokia N95 on Three in 2008 which could browse any website with the data add-on. This N95 and an iPhone 4 in 2011 could never get data when roaming on Orange GPRS though, had to be on Threes 3G network. The iPhone never said "no mobile data" either, instead it would just sit tirelessly trying to load stuff, which became a bit of a problem for iOS5 with iTunes in the Cloud, wouldn't skip to the next song in the playlist downloaded on device (like when you had no signal at all), instead just trying to endlessly download the tune and failing. iMessage and WhatsApp were already a thing at that point too, and they were also painful indoors, waiting for the fallback to SMS option to appear.
 
EE gave out free Doros to vulnerable users too? It was only non vulnerable customers who received a discount instead.

Marketing opt in/out shouldn't be a large issue as switch off comms fall under service comms not marketing.
I've seen our own copies at work for marketing opt in, opt out, service as well as different versions e.g. no data user, VoLTE available but not enabled, out of contract and so on.

Some include a link, others have different points of contact. For example, the no data user version advised customers to come in-store while others provided a link.

Also worth noting is that it mentions O2 2G being restricted and how no calls/texts will be allowed over the 2G network. It sounds like it's either 4G or nothing which is contrary to what we heard before. I don't know if this is true though.
 
Also worth noting is that it mentions O2 2G being restricted and how no calls/texts will be allowed over the 2G network. It sounds like it's either 4G or nothing which is contrary to what we heard before. I don't know if this is true though.

I understood that this was what this part of this article alluded to:

Unlike our 3G network, we won’t be turning 2G off completely. In fact, we expect to continue operating it for several years and it will play an important role in carrying emergency calls in more remote areas without 4G coverage. We’ll also use it to support data traffic for smart energy meters, contributing to the UK’s transition to a lower-carbon economy.

By redirecting most ‘human’ traffic to newer, faster and more energy-efficient networks while reserving the older slower network for some data-light ‘machine’ communications, our customers will get the best possible experience whether they are calling, messaging or using data on the go.

 
you're talking about much much further back. I had a ZTE flip phone in 2006 like that, could only give you select data services from Three (sort of like a walled-garden), such as MSN Messenger, and sports subscriptions, I believe they even trialed an OTA TV service using 3G broadcast, although I never tried it.

I later had a Nokia N95 on Three in 2008 which could browse any website with the data add-on. This N95 and an iPhone 4 in 2011 could never get data when roaming on Orange GPRS though, had to be on Threes 3G network. The iPhone never said "no mobile data" either, instead it would just sit tirelessly trying to load stuff, which became a bit of a problem for iOS5 with iTunes in the Cloud, wouldn't skip to the next song in the playlist downloaded on device (like when you had no signal at all), instead just trying to endlessly download the tune and failing. iMessage and WhatsApp were already a thing at that point too, and they were also painful indoors, waiting for the fallback to SMS option to appear.
I had Three in 2004 and like many, found it absolutely useless except in select areas where you could get a couple of bars of 3G. I seem to recall the 2G hand off being pants, taking ages to kick in and promptly putting you back on 3G if it got the faintest whiff of signal. I was 14 at the time, so the novelty of owning a feature rich phone for about £40 was enticing. It didn't take long to realise that PAYG on a phone you couldn't really use was a waste of time.

I remember reading the discussion forums back in the day that Three users in Australia had a much more open browsing experience. They could get outside the walled garden and download Java apps to run on their NEC phones. This was impossible in the UK, as there was no external access and the phones didn't have data transfer capabilities beyond dumping 3GP and MP3 files on the memory card.

A huge shame, given the features the NEC E616v, E313 and others had.
 
I had Three in 2004 and like many, found it absolutely useless except in select areas where you could get a couple of bars of 3G. I seem to recall the 2G hand off being pants, taking ages to kick in and promptly putting you back on 3G if it got the faintest whiff of signal.
The nature of how inter-network roaming works, as I understand it (and in 3's case a direct financial incentive to get you onto their network as much as possible). Of course that led to a poor user experience but 3's model at the time was to be super cheap and people would put up with it.

It worked somewhat better when T-Mobile and Orange had a roaming arrangement pending the technical merger into EE, presumably as the networks mostly overlapped.

As I said in my other comment, in my own personal experience it took a while for coverage to appear outside of towns and cities. MBNL was a huge boost for 3 and T-Mobile and when I was a regular rural train commuter I couldn't get over how I was streaming videos while people on VF/O2 were struggling to download emails on GPRS.

I remember reading the discussion forums back in the day that Three users in Australia had a much more open browsing experience. They could get outside the walled garden and download Java apps to run on their NEC phones. This was impossible in the UK, as there was no external access and the phones didn't have data transfer capabilities beyond dumping 3GP and MP3 files on the memory card.

A huge shame, given the features the NEC E616v, E313 and others had.
IIRC you could load stuff onto the NECs with a USB cable (which I seem to remember the 616s having but not the 228 which I had) and the right software.

As someone who was used to Nokia smartphones (I had a 6600 as my main phone) it was quite a shock.
 
Also worth noting is that it mentions O2 2G being restricted and how no calls/texts will be allowed over the 2G network. It sounds like it's either 4G or nothing which is contrary to what we heard before. I don't know if this is true though.
If this is true that'd be interesting, so 2G would basically be an M2M/IoT only network. Hopefully they would also allow emergency calls and emergency roaming on it for areas with 2G only masts, or maybe they might even allow normal users to use those until they got 4G'd.
 
I understood that this was what this part of this article alluded to:
I was under the impression that they would redirect traffic but not completely cut off 2G for regular users. The copy that I've seen mentions "no longer being able to make and receive calls/texts without using WiFi Calling or 4G Calling" (reworded).

According to our website, the only exception is emergency calls and IoT.

If this is true that'd be interesting, so 2G would basically be an M2M/IoT only network. Hopefully they would also allow emergency calls and emergency roaming on it for areas with 2G only masts, or maybe they might even allow normal users to use those until they got 4G'd.
It sounds dire. They should at least kept 2G open for connections but tweak the handover thresholds. Hopefully they don't actually restrict it like they say they're going to do.

At least Three isn't alone in going 4G only (for the average user).
 
It sounds dire. They should at least kept 2G open for connections but tweak the handover thresholds. Hopefully they don't actually restrict it like they say they're going to do.

At least Three isn't alone in going 4G only (for the average user).
Yea if they were able to keep 2G but make it so you never see it, that might be better. But both EE and VF have failed at that :(

If they remove 2G access it will likely reduce time on 2G, improve call quality, increase multi-rab (data+voice at same time) availability, increase time on 4G/5G and improve security and privacy.

On VF I think CSFB is still enabled during calls, that means your call can potentially drop to 2G even if it started on 4G. If that happens you are stuck on 2G until the call ends. No data, so no navigation if you're driving, and bad call quality.
 
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Anyone got an Idea as to when the coverage maps will update?
 
3G Coverage map has updated for Sept 17th switch off areas.

There's still a shocking amount of 3G only sites in central Northampton.
 
I have just been along the coast and Weybourne still has Three 3G alive and kicking (only just). EE, Vodafone and O2 all have 4G in this area. I suspect a site nearer Cley Next The Sea is still 3G only. I wonder when these will finally be upgraded.
 
Reply from Three when asked about speed drops and mast issues after the 3G switch off in my area.

In the immediate sense, we're seeing some congestion, as some previously 3G traffic has shifted to 4G, however we've got teams working on reallocating part of the spectrum and bandwidth which was freed up now. So we do expect better speeds/capacity on the network soon.

My understanding is the bulk of that work is happening in the next week (this week), so hopefully that helps with your issue.
 
Reply from Three when asked about speed drops and mast issues after the 3G switch off in my area.

In the immediate sense, we're seeing some congestion, as some previously 3G traffic has shifted to 4G, however we've got teams working on reallocating part of the spectrum and bandwidth which was freed up now. So we do expect better speeds/capacity on the network soon.

My understanding is the bulk of that work is happening in the next week (this week), so hopefully that helps with your issue.
Interesting to hear. Wonder if we'll see more 4G B1 on older sites around here, but I'm not sure honestly.
 
Went on a wonder round my local area with a Smarty sim in my old S10+ locked to 3G. I didn't lose the signal once, a sign of how much Three still relies on 3G in South Oxfordshire. Became weak at times but never completely dissappeared. Also some B3 4G sites still seem to be broadcasting 3G, 2741 being one of them.

They have loads of important sites that haven't been upgraded, these are ignoring the old in-fill sites in Abingdon and the long-running mess that is Three in Didcot.
The major sites include:
  • Sloven Copse [EE 33334] - serving Abingdon Science Park, parts of SE Abingdon, Appleford, and the Didcot/Oxford railway line.
  • Culham Campus [EE 34088] - serving Culham Campus, Clifton Hampden, and the railway line.
  • Churn Hill [EE 29192] - serving S Didcot, Chilton, Blewbury, few other villages.
  • Rutherford Appleton Laboratory [EE 27560] - serving Harwell Campus, Chilton, and the A34.
  • West Steventon [EE 33160] - serving E Steventon and the GWR main line.
  • North Grove [EE 18105] - serving Williams F1, N Grove, Denchworth, and the GWR main line.​
  • Sands Hill, Farringdon [EE 18082] - Serving Farringdon and the surrounding area, EE has 5G on this site whilst Three is useless.​
 
Went on a wonder round my local area with a Smarty sim in my old S10+ locked to 3G. I didn't lose the signal once, a sign of how much Three still relies on 3G in South Oxfordshire. Became weak at times but never completely dissappeared. Also some B3 4G sites still seem to be broadcasting 3G, 2741 being one of them.

They have loads of important sites that haven't been upgraded, these are ignoring the old in-fill sites in Abingdon and the long-running mess that is Three in Didcot.
The major sites include:
  • Sloven Copse [EE 33334] - serving Abingdon Science Park, parts of SE Abingdon, Appleford, and the Didcot/Oxford railway line.
  • Culham Campus [EE 34088] - serving Culham Campus, Clifton Hampden, and the railway line.
  • Churn Hill [EE 29192] - serving S Didcot, Chilton, Blewbury, few other villages.
  • Rutherford Appleton Laboratory [EE 27560] - serving Harwell Campus, Chilton, and the A34.
  • West Steventon [EE 33160] - serving E Steventon and the GWR main line.
  • North Grove [EE 18105] - serving Williams F1, N Grove, Denchworth, and the GWR main line.​
  • Sands Hill, Farringdon [EE 18082] - Serving Farringdon and the surrounding area, EE has 5G on this site whilst Three is useless.​
I've not had 3g since May, however, that's not venturing past Williams roundabout or further than Ardington. Three's coverage map now says that I can still get 3g 🙃
 
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