o2 Broadband ??

vectra

Whats this about?
I got this in an email from o2 this morning.

Are things reall looking up for us ? or am I missing something.. :rolleyes:

Dear Customer,

O2 Ireland is to make a multi-million Euro investment in a next generation network, paving the way for O2 broadband at home and on the move.

If you do not wish to receive these updates by email please click here.

In addition to delivering higher quality voice and data services, O2’s next generation network will pave the way for broadband services over the mobile network.

Broadband over O2’s next generation network will offer peak rate download speeds starting at 3.6 Megabits per second by December 2006, rising to 14.4 by end 2007.

The new network will incorporate the latest HSDPA technology (high speed downlink packet access) which will position O2 Ireland ahead of its competitors in providing advanced high bandwidth broadband services over the mobile network, which customers can use at home and/or on the move.

I look forward to the next issue, when again I will communicate the most recent news and developments with our network.

Yours sincerely,
Oliver Coughlan
Chief Technology Officer
O2 Ireland

smellslikeshoes

This was annonced a few months ago, havent really heard much from it since. It will be using hspda which will give questionable ping times but should still be a very nice product as long as the caps and prices are favourable. Hopefully it wont be anything like 02's current 3g internet product which has a cap of 2gig which is very restrictive by anyones standard.

Urban Weigl

No pricing information or launch date yet it seems, beyond "by December 2006"?

kaizersoze

Everyone knows they're going to introduce this. The questions are when & how much?

bealtine

smellslikeshoes wrote:

Hopefully it wont be anything like 02's current 3g internet product which has a cap of 2gig which is very restrictive by anyones standard.

Don't worry if anybody can turn a diamond into a pumpkin it's O2.

Urban Weigl

kaizersoze wrote:

Everyone knows they're going to introduce this. The questions are when & how much?

By December 2006 according to their press release. No word on pricing yet, though. 14.4mbps sounds very nice and all, but it depends on how much the service will actually cost, and if they are going to cripple it to death.

elmer

I believe they are currently swapping out their 3g network to an HSDPA supporting one. It is scheduled to finish in december - but who knows

Solair

It's an incremental upgrade process all 3G networks will follow that path.

Mobile broadband is quite likely "the killer app" for 3G. Videophones, mobile tv etc were never going to cut the mustard really

cormie

Will this be the same idea as them Vodafone PCMCIA (or whatever it is ) cards that fit into the laptop and you put the sim card in? It sounds much better, but it's the same concept, right?

I wonder are the still on schedule for Dec?

If they want to compete in the BB market, they are going to have to charge €50 or less per month. I wonder could they charge that little for this though?

Could you use a voip service with this I wonder? So no need to ever have a landline installed and you can keep the same number wherever you go in the world as long as you have your laptop:) That would be nice if the price is right!

thebman

cormie wrote:

Will this be the same idea as them Vodafone PCMCIA (or whatever it is ) cards that fit into the laptop and you put the sim card in? It sounds much better, but it's the same concept, right?

I wonder are the still on schedule for Dec?

If they want to compete in the BB market, they are going to have to charge €50 or less per month. I wonder could they charge that little for this though?

Could you use a voip service with this I wonder? So no need to ever have a landline installed and you can keep the same number wherever you go in the world as long as you have your laptop:) That would be nice if the price is right!

Vodafone's 50 Euro package isn't at the same speed at this. Most likely, they'll offer a similar package as Vodafone for 50 Euro and then charge more for the faster data rates and a higher usage cap.

I doubt they'll allow VOIP given they want you to use your mobile phone for that. It just wouldn't make sense and AFAIK Vodafone don't allow this either.

I think the best thing about this is that the price of these packages will probably fall over time as there is actually competition in the mobile market.

Urban Weigl

It is interesting, even though Vodafone's contract says you are not allowed to use VoIP, their sales staff have promoted its use when I talked to them recently. Even after I pointed out what the contract states.

But back to O2, I find it strange that they are promoting "O2 Broadband", even sending out emails about it to their customers, but their sales staff do not know anything about it yet! It almost seems like there is a lack of co-ordination.

wiredup

One can only hope that o2 see a gap in the market and make a deal that will whip Eircom's ass.
If o2 come out with an over priced typical mobile type product with limited bandwidth I shall be very sad.

cgarvey

They will, so be prepared to be sad.

Solair

Technically, the bandwidth shouldn't be too bad. UMTS / 3GSM "3G" can in theory support quite high speeds and lots of users. It's all down to how O2 choose to market it.

It's odd though that O2 as yet haven't used their 3G network for anything significant and have been saying that they don't think that the current 3G handsets are not developed enough etc.

It'll be interesting to see how it goes when they roll it out.

watty

But not lots of users and high speed at the same time in the same cell.

flodis79

Any news on this?

Urban Weigl

flodis79 wrote:

Any news on this?

Originally meant to launch by the end of 2006, the launch date has been pushed back to the first quarter of 2007. Possibly as soon as January.

flodis79

Urban Weigl wrote:

Originally meant to launch by the end of 2006, the launch date has been pushed back to the first quarter of 2007. Possibly as soon as January.

I think you mentioned it in the mobiles/pdas thread. do you have any hint on pricing information?

Urban Weigl

flodis79 wrote:

I think you mentioned it in the mobiles/pdas thread. do you have any hint on pricing information?

This may no longer be accurate, but last I heard it was going to be more affordable than what Vodafone offer, but there will be a cap.