Vodafone to start customer testing of 3G!

god's toy

On Monday 6th September Vodafone (irl) will start customer testing of 3G on its network. It will run for a minimum two weeks.
No info about pricing or anything just yet.

wonder if you get to keep the phone after the two weeks are up?

jesus_thats_gre

If I remember correctly, the external trialers for GPRS got to keep their handsets..

I am not sure about 3G though. They are using the Samsung z100 and z105 mainly. The z100 will never be released commercially so if you end up doing the trial with this handset, I doubt you will be able to keep it. It could be different with the z105 though as it may be launched commercially.

Just speculation however.

flywheel

they used the Moto T260 for the GPRS trial, which they didn't release commercially but they allowed the trialists to keep it

billy the squid

how do you get to be a trial customer

the regular GSM phone I bought off them last year was a piece of crap i wouldnt mind giving it a go

JTMan

In the UK trialist all got to keep their phones. They also got £20 of calls and £50 of live! content free a month.

The signature handset in the UK is set to be the V975. Voda UK have ordered millions of the V975 for late October.

There has been huge testing problems with the Samsung Z105. However Voda say they will include a "follow up product" at launch.

I assume that 3G will launch in Late October here as well with the V975 been the signature handset.

aphex™

What are they going to show on their 3g vodafone live thing? Vodafone ads with David Beckham in them? :rolleyes:

JBoyle4eva

I'm gonna ring Vodafone later and ask them how to you become a trial customer. Will get back to ya with my response from them!

bp_me

DubWireless wrote:

they used the Moto T260 for the GPRS trial, which they didn't release commercially but they allowed the trialists to keep it

Motorola T260 was available commercially.

http://direct.motorola.com/ENG/manuals.asp?country=GBR&language=ENG&productid=7357&cat=3

god's toy

It’s the Samsung Z105 and you CANT keep em L.. and it’s been downgraded to 2.5 G for the moment as they have some probs…. oh well.

aphex™

JBoyle4eva wrote:

I'm gonna ring Vodafone later and ask them how to you become a trial customer. Will get back to ya with my response from them!

For vodafoneLIVE, i heard they gave the "movers and shakers" (shudder, shudder, shudder) of Dublin free phones. Think D4 chick types who use Daddy's credit card to bribe skangers not to mug them, and also spend their lives on the phone.

:cool:

JBoyle4eva

Well, just got to off to Vodafone, and I got some Donegal/Northern Ireland fella,. so he was a little diffucult to understand, but what he said was that Vodafone IRL are currently only rolling out £g via connect card to 'Corparate Customers' only, but in a statement released in Feb 2004, it states that "Commercial rollout of 3G will begin in the second half of 2004" but he said probably around Christmas .

Now, the fella I got was awful nice and rather helpful, as he asked me was there any more info on 3G I like, and I think he's name was Timothy, so if you want a fella who seems to know what he talks about, ask for Timothy!

flywheel

bp_me wrote:

Motorola T260 was available commercially.

by Moto yes - i even had one until recently

my use of they = Eircell

BrianG

flywheel

aphex&#8482 wrote:

For vodafoneLIVE, i heard they gave the "movers and shakers" (shudder, shudder, shudder) of Dublin free phones. Think D4 chick types who use Daddy's credit card to bribe skangers not to mug them, and also spend their lives on the phone.

that sounds a bit more like a marketing exercise during a launch... a (pre launch) trial usually involves a not insignificant effort on behalf of the trialist carrying out various scheduled tasks, reporting etc... so not sure if the 'movers and shakers' would be the most appropriate candidates for the effort part - but perhaps for the launch to be seen out on the tiles
BrianG

Doublezero8

So far this has only been a GSM trail with 3G handsets. The trial numbers will be increased next week and they will start to test the 3G services.