EE - 4G

Duff-Man · 23 Oct 2012 at 00:34

Well that's that then. No LTE for me.

Even if they weren't asking 99 quid to switch from a contract that started *today*, their prices are ridiculous for such small data allowances. 1Gb per month (33 whole megabytes per day) is pathetic for a service sold on high bandwidth features like streaming TV, films, and downloading games. For more than 1Gb you're paying at least £10 more than a 3G contract.

Forget it, EE. Forget it.

Glaucus · 23 Oct 2012 at 00:35

That's the thing I think a lot of us where expecting a premimum and it to be pricy, but not that pricy. I would probably pay double the three plan so say £35 a month. But nothing near what they are asking, especially as its only in a few city's.

JAzz · 23 Oct 2012 at 00:50

The SIM only deals don't look that bad. 12 month contract, unlimited calls with 3GB data is £31 a month and O2 do 2GB data for £25, look at 1GB and it is £26 compared to O2's £20.

The above is assuming that the sim only deals are £15 less like they have stated.

Glaucus · 23 Oct 2012 at 00:52

That's still a terriable terriable amount. Also 3Gb is nothing at all.

Azza · 23 Oct 2012 at 00:52

Lettuce be cereal... you live in London, it takes you 30 minutes on the train to get to work in the morning and 30 minutes to get back. You want to stream something from iPlayer to watch or stream the radio in the morning and in the evening on the way home, even with the sim-only plans you'll still be spending £31 a month for just 3GB which you could easily chew up given the download speeds.

edit--------->

Reading Engadget's article it says...

EE will let users who bought comparable non-4G versions in the last six months (like the One X or Galaxy S III) to exchange their devices for a one-off payment of £100.

Could this be the £99 that The Verge talk about? Or just a general trade in service?

Glaucus · 23 Oct 2012 at 00:55

Netflix is 300mb an hour worst(very poor qaulity) and 2.3Gb an hour for HD, there's a few levels inbetween.

So how exactly are you meant to stream films like it advertises.

And do you get unlimited 3G? Or when your in a 3G area are you using up your pathetically low amount. I'm guess there's no differentiation between 3G and 4g
Remember LtE isn't aimed at browsing and emails. As advertised onEE websites its for streaming and other heavy usage.

spinstorm · 23 Oct 2012 at 00:56

EE have priced the 4G network at either cheap enough that people will run out of data and complain or too expensive for any normal consumer to want to chose it.

And no amount of PR from Nelson Bostock (EE's PR Company) will save this from failure.

Don't get me wrong the concept and to see it working is beyond exciting but not at those prices.

EE unveil prices but no unlimited data option and SIM only deals not available until 9th November

Azza · 23 Oct 2012 at 00:59

Glaucus said:
Netflix is 300mb an hour worst(very poor qaulity) and 2.3Gb an hour for HD, there's a few levels inbetween.

So how exactly are you meant to stream films like it advertises.

So you could easily go through your 3GB limit on a commute. Watching their very own TV streaming service that they'll be launching seems pretty hard to do as well.

I guess tethering is out of the question then...?

Duff-Man · 23 Oct 2012 at 01:01

3Gb per month is still only 100mb per day

Easily overcome by streaming an hour of video per day...

Very disappointed in these deals - I guess this is what having a monopoly causes. I'll just wait until the other networks get LTE bandwidth. Prices will inevitably drop then.

Glaucus · 23 Oct 2012 at 01:01

Azza said:
I guess tethering is out of the question then...?

No point, the bandwidth to content will mean your out of data

Oh I should say the default setting on netflix "best" is 1Gb a hour.

JAzz · 23 Oct 2012 at 01:06

Glaucus said:
That's still a terriable terriable amount. Also 3Gb is nothing at all.

Maybe so but the competition haven't got much better available. Vodafone do 1GB unlimited calls for £26.

Like with all things when there is no competition they can charge what they like. I guess for others it will make a difference but I don't need that much data as I've got wifi at home and work and don't really use much when I'm out and about

DeathStorm · 23 Oct 2012 at 01:06

What's the point of 4G speeds if we're stuck with 500MB/1GB data caps?

I'm kinda reminded of the crappy pricing they're stuck with in America when I look at this but there's zero chance I'll be signing up for LTE with them now.

It's petty but I hope these kind of prices lead to better wifi infrastructure so we can give these companies the middle finger if they're going to stick to the same pricing model endlessly.

Azza · 23 Oct 2012 at 01:07

Don't worry guys by the time O2 and Vodafone get 4G, the next gen will be a month away but they'll still only be about 40% 4G coverage of the country!

Glaucus · 23 Oct 2012 at 01:08

JAzz said:
Maybe so but the competition haven't got much better available. Vodafone do 1GB unlimited calls for £26.

Like with all things when there is no competition they can charge what they like.

These aren't aimed at high usage. 4g is advertise as full streaming services.
I can get unlimited data with tethering on three for £17.90 and if these prices are confirmed tomorrow is exactly what I will do. Unlimited texts means sod all. They are targeting the wrong market. Why would someone who uses les Stan 1 Gb or even less than 3Gb want or need 4G, let alone by a new phone and pay more for it, if they stay within a small area. The people they should target are people like me, heavy users who are willing to pay for it, we would buy new phones and new contracts. But zero point with those limits.

Giff gaff I can get unlimited Internet and texts for £10 soon to go up to £12.

High Internet usage usually means low minutes. As seen by loads of tariffs.

Azza · 23 Oct 2012 at 01:20

Think I will order a Three 1 month SIM 200 tomorrow to see what speeds are like here in the wilderness and if they're any good decide on if I should stay with T-Mobile or go to Three. Or I wonder if I could 'borrow' a Three SIM from one of the shops in town. Hmmmm

Just got to wait for MS & Nokia to sort themselves out with the 920 pricing and announce WP8 features. :/

muon · 23 Oct 2012 at 01:30

Sticking with the One Plan on Three.

I guess the lack of competition results in prices like those. No idea why the T-Mobile/Orange merger was allowed to go ahead.

Some kind of Vodafone/O2 tie up may have to happen and then we go from 5 major players to 3.

JAzz · 23 Oct 2012 at 01:31

Glaucus said:
These aren't aimed at high usage. 4g is advertise as full streaming services.
I can get unlimited data with tethering on three for £17.90 and if these prices are confirmed tomorrow is exactly what I will do. Unlimited texts means sod all. They are targeting the wrong market.

Giff gaff I can get unlimited Internet and texts for £10 soon to go up to £12.

High Internet usage usually means low minutes. As seen by loads of tariffs.

With both of those tariffs you don't get much call time and while it may be different for others I actually use my phone to call people a lot. I can't ever see myself streaming a film from my phone, maybe sky go to watch the footy or something but I guess everyone has different uses and expectations from their phone and contract.

I do agree that they should be offering more. Of course I want them to offer more but they have a monopoly on this probably for at least 9 months so things could have been worse! 4G does eat up bandwidth like crazy, when in America I used it on my iPad and I would say a lot of these deals unsuitable for a tablet. If I had been doing their pricing I would have priced it very keenly to get as many customers on board while nobody else is offering it. Surely gaining more long term customers would be ideal here? Though I swear it feels like it is all fixed, everyone offers very similar and all overpriced! I don't expect things to get much better when O2 and Vodafone bring their 4G out. Look at America them lot get a raw deal as well

Glaucus · 23 Oct 2012 at 01:35

JAzz said:
With both of those tariffs you don't get much call time and while it may be different for others I actually use my phone to call people a lot. I can't ever see myself streaming a film from my phone, maybe sky go to watch the footy or something but I guess everyone has different uses and expectations from their phone and contract.

Which as I said, they are targeting the wrong group. If you don't stream films or do anything that needs Gb why pay so much more for 4G? It makes no sense. You are totally wrong market for the tech, but you are the person they are targeting. It makes no sense.

Offer lower calls then and more Internet. But with those limits it makes 4g even more pointless that it allready is, seeing as its in like 8 cities.

They have till summer, before the others get 4G

America get **** deals on everything mobile related. So it's not comparable.

muon · 23 Oct 2012 at 01:42

Glaucus said:
Which as I said, they are targeting the wrong group. If you don't stream films or do anything that needs Gb why pay so much more for 4G? It makes no sense. You are totally wrong market for the tech, but you are the person they are targeting. It makes no sense.

Offer lower calls then and more Internet. But with those limits it makes 4g even more pointless that it allready is, seeing as its in like 8 cities.

They have till summer, before the others get 4G

America get **** deals on everything mobile related. So it's not comparable.

You have to understand that they already have over a third of the market. They don't necessarily have to get new customers. Shift those current willing customers onto 4G premium tariffs and get a few new customers willing to pay high £/mo for free shiny phones and you probably maximise profits.

Glaucus · 23 Oct 2012 at 01:47

muon said:
You have to understand that they already have over a third of the market. They don't necessarily have to get new customers. Shift those current willing customers onto 4G premium tariffs and get a few new customers willing to pay high £/mo for free shiny phones and you probably maximise profits.

Anyone who signs upto those tariffs are seriously brain dead, especially as its not available in 98% of the country and any tarrif under 8Gb is pointless and you wouldn't need 4g in its current state anyway.

They are going to lose out on huge amounts of potential two year contracts and tie us in, before the others get to market.