Three and Vodafone are merging!

b0rn2sk8 said:
I can’t really see the point of mmWave for a phone, your hand which holds the phone can literally block the signal.

Likewise, what are you doing on your phone that needs that kind of speed.

mmWave is great for applications where you can put a big antenna on the device so it doesn’t get blocked by the environment it’s in but for almost all of those applications, you are better off just digging a trench, installing conduit and pulling in fibre.

There was talk about it being great for autonomous vehicles etc but it seems things have moved on and it just not being required with all the processing being able to be done locally.
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No you're right, and that's a fair point about mobile phones but it has a lot of potential applications beyond mobile phones.

Off the top of my head a few areas that are being looked at are:

  1. Tackling Congestion on the network as its main advantage isn't just speed, but massive capacity. It's designed to prevent slowdowns in extremely busy locations like stadiums, transport hubs, and city centres where current networks can struggle. you add some high capacity licenced spectrum it could be beneficial in those areas. Add slicing to that and you can create a great use case of mmwave in those busy areas.
  2. The use case for FWA becomes more tenable using mmWave to deliver it, and it could become a genuine alternative to installing fibre optic cables to homes and businesses, which can be disruptive and expensive.
  3. Addressing signal blocakge issue. As you know the industry is actively addressing the blockage issue with smart antenna technologies like "beamforming," which steers the signal directly to your device, and using multiple antenna elements to find the clearest path. It can also use multi-path and reflection and beam switiching - so ideal inside environments like malls, transport hubs or places where this capability becomes possible.
  4. For future 5GSA networks, mmWave is crucial part of it in my opinion (but it's just an opinion!). It enables the ultra-low latency required for next-generation applications where instant responses are critical - as you said autonomous vechicles, but there's probably better use cases for it.
  5. Also in terms of just pure innovation I think it opens the door to technologies that aren't yet mainstream, such as high-fidelity augmented reality (AR), advanced robotics in smart factories, and complex connected transport systems (i.e. trains, busses, trams etc...) that rely on immediate data transfer.
As a consumer it's hard to think outside of just a phone use. But if we start to think bigger and think of it more as a crucial piece of infrastructure to support the next wave of technology then it becomes quite exciting. Also, the bandwidth/spectrum is there to be used, so you might as well use it!

I wonder if it could also be used as alternative backhaul? I know FWA is a key driver for its licencing (think remote contstruction sites potentially).

Also let's not forget that in a few years (although all our phones are enabled to do it now), satellite 5G will be a thing too (though it'll probably be called 6G), where a permanent "footprint" over the UK will be painted for 5G using NTN capabilities.

I think it's quite exciting - but of course on the consumer side, it's less exciting or visible. But I'm easily excited and love the "art of the possible" :D
 
Noticed ads on the London tube network that Vodafone and 3 users can now use each other's network. Has anyone on either network noticed any improvements in terms of coverage? Curious if I should try 3 again, there was too many not-spots around central London and even no 5G coverage around my home area, although Vodafone seems to cover those areas based on their coverage map.
 
Orcvader said:
Noticed ads on the London tube network that Vodafone and 3 users can now use each other's network. Has anyone on either network noticed any improvements in terms of coverage? Curious if I should try 3 again, there was too many not-spots around central London and even no 5G coverage around my home area, although Vodafone seems to cover those areas based on their coverage map.
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It would be nice when this happens as Three was fast for me around here but Vodafone (Talkmobile) is a solid contender. Be nice to be able to mix it up. I'm sure semi rural and congested zones are being prioritised. I think the sharing has already started!
 
The adverts in Edinburgh all say something along the lines of "2 networks is better than 1 " and my cynical brain thinks "4 networks are better than 3"
 
I'm seeing 5G in a few places where I was only getting 4G on Vodafone before which I assume is due to the merger - but the performance is still not amazing - for some reason the speed often starts very high but almost immediately drops like there is some kind of policy in place which allows a burst of high speed only, with erratic down stream speeds and massive latency spikes i.e.

https://www.speedtest.net/result/a/11139754679 (Again despite showing LTE this is a 5G test)
 
In my work phone I've got both a three sim and a Lebara sim (Voda). In London I see no difference to before the merger. Three is still as scatty as ever.
 
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Mentioned this in the other thread but Vodafone signal got slower and service rather patchy where I work.

Don't notice a difference too much in other places but I'll be switching back to some sort of EE provider this month.

Anyone who understands these things knows less competition doesn't offer better service in the long run, some people at CMA just got real nice brown envelopes.
 
kona786 said:
When three does hit, it certainly hits hard. This was a random test in North London.

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That's extremely rare for Three in London. In the majority of cases they are massively congested and the performance is terrible. So many sites in central London are un-upgraded.

And of course you have the classic EE/Three problem of variable (in my own experience) indoor coverage. They're particularly bad in older buildings but your mileage may vary.
 
Christmas themed thank said:
That's extremely rare for Three in London. In the majority of cases they are massively congested and the performance is terrible. So many sites in central London are un-upgraded.

And of course you have the classic EE/Three problem of variable (in my own experience) indoor coverage. They're particularly bad in older buildings but your mileage may vary.
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Yes it's unlikely you'll ever see that speed hence me saying a random test.

I've seen 300meg at work and 80 where I live. Speeds are generally usable but there times where you hit a black hole. Just like all networks. I find Voda the best for overall reliability.
 
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I think the adverts about Vodafone and Three customers already being able to benefit are really cheeky, and pushing false advertising. It (purposefully?) comes across as a blanket improvement that all customers can already benefit from everywhere... Especially as in August they only had 500 masts turned on for this, they plan to have 10,000 by the end of the year (out of around 36,000) but then take 6 years to get to 95% and 8 years to complete.

Whilst no doubt the improvements will increasingly be noticed, most people won't for a while.
 
Three customer and service is noticeably worse now in some locations now, in some places it's unusable where it was fine previously. Shouldn't be surprised I guess.

Yeah, with three it's either great, or rubbish, there's not much in-between.
 
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