BT Mobile

[alzieboy]

Anybody with BT mobile, have checked the local coverage map which seems okay for calls and text, am on O2 at the present time, but signal very iffy .

 

[400ixl]

BT Mobile is EE, so you can compare it to that network as well.

 

[Druk]

BT bought EE so I suspect they are just piggybacking on that network.
If that's the case it won't be that great. Lots of places throughout the UK with little or no coverage...despite their claims.

 

[400ixl]

But that is true for all providers. Vodafone is no better for black spots, or Three for that matter.

Each one depends on where you are as they don't share transmitters so will each be different. The government is trying to force a change on sharing in black spot areas.

 

[markjay]

But that is true for all providers. Vodafone is no better for black spots, or Three for that matter.

Each one depends on where you are as they don't share transmitters so will each be different. .

This is correct, we have customers on all networks and there's isn't 'good' or 'band', instead you simply need to check which network has the best coverage in the specific locations that you frequent (home, work, shopping, etc).

...The government is trying to force a change on sharing in black spot areas.

This was blocked by the mobile phone providers who claimed that it will not encourage or reward providers to invest in infrastructure thus bring about an overall decline in mobile phone coverage. But this is a feeble excuse - suggesting that improving the service will cause a decline in service...

And it is also an odd argument because it seems to be working well for the banks who have been sharing ATMs for many years now.

I am all for free market but I think in this case the argument for competition does not benefit the consumer .

 

[st13phil]

This was blocked by the mobile phone providers who claimed that it will not encourage or reward providers to invest in infrastructure thus bring about an overall decline in mobile phone coverage.

The mobile telcos in the UK have been getting away with shoddy coverage and shoddy service for years, so that frankly implausible excuse came as no surprise.

It doesn't take much imagination to ensure that a scheme that mandated home country roaming to deal with network black spots incentivised them to improve their infrastructure. Something like a connection tax imposed on the telco each time one of their customers roamed onto a rival network would concentrate their minds.

 

[markjay]

The mobile telcos in the UK have been getting away with shoddy coverage and shoddy service for years, so that frankly implausible excuse came as no surprise.

It doesn't take much imagination to ensure that a scheme that mandated home country roaming to deal with network black spots incentivised them to improve their infrastructure. Something like a connection tax imposed on the telco each time one of their customers roamed onto a rival network would concentrate their minds.

Yes but they would simply roll the tax onto their customers and blame 'the government'.

I think the issue goes back to 2000 when the Chancellor pocketed some £22bn (!) from the mobile phone providers in return for 3g license, which is the complete opposite of incentivising them to invest in infrastructure and reduce prices.

That would have been a great opportunity for the government to enforce (and regulate) infrastructure sharing for the benefit of consumers - perhaps in the same way that most of our utilities providers work these days - but the Chancellor clearly preferred the short term income to the long term benefits.

I think we can safely say that it all went downhill from there:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/727831.stm

 

[st13phil]

Yes but they would simply roll the tax onto their customers and blame 'the government'.

That is a risk, but I'm sure a way could be found to mitigate against it.

I think the issue goes back to 2000 when the Chancellor pocketed some £22bn (!) from the mobile phone providers in return for 3g license, which is the complete opposite of incentivising them to invest in infrastructure and reduce prices.

Agreed - to an extent - but as it was an auction, the counter argument goes that they didn't have to bid that much. The reality of course is that mobile telecoms in the UK has been a licence to print money for many, many, years and that shows no sign of abating.

That would have been a great opportunity for the government to enforce infrastructure sharing for the benefit of consumers - perhaps in the same way that most of our utilities providers work these days - but the Chancellor clearly preferred the short term income to the long term benefits.

I've long argued that the current model of independent network infrastructure is both wasteful and unnecessary. A single centrally owned and managed infrastructure system that the service providers use - much like the core utilities have - is a much more efficient model. An alternative is to make 100% coverage of the UK land mass an absolute condition of the licence to operate. That would soon overcome the "lack of incentive" to either cooperatively share facilities or to invest in their own infrastructure.

 

[alzieboy]

Well I took the plunge and signed up with BT Mobile, unlimited calls & Texts , 500 data pm @ £5 per month, worth a go at that money

 

[markjay]

Well I took the plunge and signed up with BT Mobile, unlimited calls & Texts , 500 data pm @ £5 per month, worth a go at that money

The price is good. 500mb is a bit low for smartphones, so keep an eye on it - you might want to get a mobile data manager app.

 

[brucemillar]

A very timely question here for me that raises a thread hijack. Apologies.

I am a long term BT customer on BB and Voice. The BB where I live is shockingly poor due to the copper line and distance from the exchange/cabinet. We are talking less than 1Mgps on average.

BT are promoting " high speed BB" in to my immediate neighbours and have started this service from the 15 November. I cannot get it as I am served from a different cabinet. BT refuse to re-route my line. whilst accepting that this is "not good" they refuse to budge. My neigbours are less than .5Km from me.

I have asked BT to look at providing mobile data on an "unlimited" package via EE. This has resulted in them sending me a "deadlock"letter. The inference being that EE is still a separate company and BT have no influence over their services?

The situation is made worse by the fact that BT are offering their high speed service to neighbours who deserted them years ago for V-Fast etc. Where as I remained loyal (and they know this).

Can I insist that BT offer me something via EE?

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

Well I took the plunge and signed up with BT Mobile, unlimited calls & Texts , 500 data pm @ £5 per month, worth a go at that money

500mb would last me half a lunchbreak, lol

 

[brucemillar]

500mb would last me half a lunchbreak, lol

There are alternatives to x-hamster

 

[400ixl]

Your cabinet must be connected to a different exchange to your neighbours which is why they cannot connect you.

Put your phone number in to https://www.samknows.com/broadband/broadband_checker and you will be able to see what is available on your exchange. Click on the ADSL tab and then you will see your exchange. Click on that link and you should see if there are plans to offer FTTC services to your exchange and when.

As for the EE question. BT and EE will be separate legal entities and they will have no ability to influence any EE offerings.

BT are offering you the service you have subscribed to from them in an up to X Mbps ADSL service. Just because another exchange has been upgraded near by does not unfortunately automatically entitle you to that same service until your exchange has also been upgraded.

Given the speed you are getting you must be a long distance from your exchange.

Not what you will want to hear unfortunately.

 

[Gollom]

A very timely question here for me that raises a thread hijack. Apologies.

I am a long term BT customer on BB and Voice. The BB where I live is shockingly poor due to the copper line and distance from the exchange/cabinet. We are talking less than 1Mgps on average.

BT are promoting " high speed BB" in to my immediate neighbours and have started this service from the 15 November. I cannot get it as I am served from a different cabinet. BT refuse to re-route my line. whilst accepting that this is "not good" they refuse to budge. My neigbours are less than .5Km from me.

I have asked BT to look at providing mobile data on an "unlimited" package via EE. This has resulted in them sending me a "deadlock"letter. The inference being that EE is still a separate company and BT have no influence over their services?

The situation is made worse by the fact that BT are offering their high speed service to neighbours who deserted them years ago for V-Fast etc. Where as I remained loyal (and they know this).

Can I insist that BT offer me something via EE?

As unjust as it may be, the answer is no. If they were breaching firmly agreed and specific T's & C's with you specifically, then the Ombudsman MAY look at it. Otherwise you would just be banging your head against a wall.

The whole issue is that OpenReach (not BT incidentally - allegedly....) have a virtual monopoly and can do (or not do) pretty much what they want. The only time I have seen an impact being made is when a group of people got together and approached via their MP. The fact that the group of people included an MP and some very wealthy and influential people is of course a mere coincidence....

One other possibility is to get a group of people who are affected in the same way from the same cabinet and point out a missed revenue opportunity. Would not hold your breath though!

If you write to Gavin Patterson (CEO) he will pass your letter to BT as your ISP. Who will not get any traction with OpenReach as you have no doubt discovered.

Sigh

Until I retired recently, I looked after CEO level and legal complaints, so do speak from experience. Sadly.

 

[markjay]

A very timely question here for me that raises a thread hijack. Apologies.

I am a long term BT customer on BB and Voice. The BB where I live is shockingly poor due to the copper line and distance from the exchange/cabinet. We are talking less than 1Mgps on average.

BT are promoting " high speed BB" in to my immediate neighbours and have started this service from the 15 November. I cannot get it as I am served from a different cabinet. BT refuse to re-route my line. whilst accepting that this is "not good" they refuse to budge. My neigbours are less than .5Km from me.

I have asked BT to look at providing mobile data on an "unlimited" package via EE. This has resulted in them sending me a "deadlock"letter. The inference being that EE is still a separate company and BT have no influence over their services?

The situation is made worse by the fact that BT are offering their high speed service to neighbours who deserted them years ago for V-Fast etc. Where as I remained loyal (and they know this).

Can I insist that BT offer me something via EE?

BT are playing a misleading marketing game.

Long ago they were forced to break up their business into separate businesses. BT Wholesale sells to ISPs use of infrastructure owned by BT Openreach, etc.

The idea was that the consumer-facing business at BT does not have any advantage over other ISPs who buy capacity from BT and sell it on (either On-Network or Off-Network/LLU services).

The result is that the 'BT' person that you are talking to in fact works for a totally separate business to the 'BT' that owns the infrastructure or the 'BT' that provides you with the telephone line.

What they do however is push the envelope of what they can legally say to customers. They would have you believe of course that they are all part on one big BT that works seamlessly together, and that it you get all your services from 'BT' you will be better-off than if buying selected services from different providers.

But the reality is that the 'BT' person you are talking to has no more clout over other parts of BT than any other provider e.g. Vodafone, TalkTalk, etc

So I am afraid that the short answer is No - I don't believe that the 'BT' that provide you with your broadband can not help via EE.

 

[markjay]

Check if this is avaliable in your area:

https://www1.relish.net/athome

 

[brucemillar]

Check if this is avaliable in your area:

https://www1.relish.net/athome

It is not. Thanks for the link though.

 

[alzieboy]

500mb would last me half a lunchbreak, lol

I had a 100mb bolt on for £3 pm with O2 never went over , so should be okay, not a big user anyway ,

 

[Piff]

There are alternatives to x-hamster

enlighten me - what are.the alternatives to xhamster?