3 Gaining ground?

1huge1

Yet another thread about 3 but i did find this a interesting read as kast time i heard numbers from 3 it was all doom and gloom yet they seem to have turned that around (or so they say :rolleyes: ) Oh and it was quiet interesting to read that they'd consider buying meteor


from the indo

IRELAND'S fourth mobile operator, 3, has grown its market share to 150,000 subscribers, according to new figures seen by the Irish Independent.


The growth came mainly in the past year after 3 Ireland launched its pre-paid service in May of last year.

3 Ireland, which is owned by Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, has never released its subscriber figures but is expected to give an update in September.

The company said yesterday it had also thrown down the guantlet to its much bigger competitors Vodafone Ireland, O2 Ireland and Meteor - who have millions of subscribers between them - in the mobile roaming market.

According to 3, it has cut its roaming rates to the lowest in the market by 33pc setting an industry standard with rates lower than the recently recommended Eurotariff figures which were set by the European Commission.

It added that the figures were about 20c lower per minute than its competitors, including VAT, for making calls within the EU, making calls to Ireland when in the EU and receiving calls from anywhere in the world.

Broadband

The new figures show that 3 Ireland has also made inroads in the mobile broadband market.

3 has added on about 10,000 broadband customers in the past six weeks since the introduction of its €19.99 a month for 10 gigabytes of data product.

Yesterday, Robert Finnegan, managing director of 3, said that he would not comment directly on the new subscriber figures but added that they were "growing very strongly".

He added that average revenue per user figures were also strong.

Commenting on the roaming move he said by offering pricing below the Eurotariff, 3 has undercut all of the other operators.

"The old networks have creamed profits from Irish consumers travelling abroad for years, and equally 3 has had to pay exceptionally high prices to the incumbent networks to offer roaming services in markets where 3 does not have a network."

Meanwhile, Mr Finnegan did not rule out Hutchison running the ruler over Meteor if it came onto the market as a standalone buy on the back of the news that Babcock & Brown is planning to split Eircom and sell of its retail division.

Scale

"Obviously there would be economies of scale and it (Meteor) may be something that we would look at."

However, he ruled out any interest in Eircom's fixed line business. "It's not our area and the move at the moment is to mobile anyway. We also have our own reseller arrangements in place."

The Irish Independent last week reported the splitting up of Eircom with plans to sell off the retail division, which could net the owners up to €1.8bn.

Sam Vimes

i really hope they don't buy meteor

Why doesn't t-mobile buy meteor? or are they involved here already?

And I wouldn't call three broadband...broadband,it's slower than dial up.

BuffyBot

T-Mobile aren't involved here yet - but have partnered up with Meteor in the past. I'd imagine they would consider it - then again, they didn't pipe up the last time it was up for sale.

Tarakiwa

The article says that growth is "strong" but they refuse to comment on numbers .......

Does this seem like the sort of thing a company would actually say if they were growing quickly???

Urban Weigl

I hope T-Mobile buys Meteor.

paulm17781

I got a call from 3 today asking was I happy with their service. I (again) told them the problem of texting people while roaming issue. They first told me there was no report of this, then it changed to blame the other networks, then they said they'd look into it.

It is a crying shame, their service is good but their customer service is non-existent.

3 - if you're reading, denying a problem doesn't make it go away.

godskitchen

Ha Ha, Three gaining ground...............are they up to 3% of the market yet?

1huge1

Thats not that bad considering its such a saturated market, it took a long time for meteor to get going. Im sure its going to be a few years till they make a profit though

fifth

I'd consider changing to 3 because I miss being able to video call and download things. I'm using an N80 on meteor and its going to waste. I only keep it for the free texts, but the free windows live messenger might be worth it.. except 3 don't sell sim packs yet.

barrett1965

Tarakiwa wrote:

The article says that growth is "strong" but they refuse to comment on numbers .......

I stand corrected, but I think 3 are up to around 150,000 customers already. That's not bad considering they are only in Ireland five minutes.

1huge1

funkyflea wrote:

I'd consider changing to 3 because I miss being able to video call and download things. I'm using an N80 on meteor and its going to waste. I only keep it for the free texts, but the free windows live messenger might be worth it.. except 3 don't sell sim packs yet.

You actually got use out of the video calling? The only times ive ever used it was like as a joke, never got any practical use out of it.

maddflogg

i was with 3 for, hmmm, 3 days last month! What a farce! Their handsets are still, eh, "neutered" beyond recognition: can't use them as modems, and they dare pretend it's a technical "problem...maybe solved in the future"...when you're out of 3g coverage, you can't use the web anymore, oh, but you can still download their games and wallpapers...ooh, eh, greeat! For what? Videocalls and their downloads we are asked to accept all that walled-garden nonsense? Their internet add-ons are a joke...just get operamini, use your pc to download proper music, games, wallpapers etc are freely available elsewhere, via pc or wap browser...three? 2, 1...leave! They have to get the message!!!! But then again: in a world where you can buy "preloaded" ipods (for the musically tasteless?), nothing surprises me! And you can't port a 3g-handet! You must buy a 3-set!!!!! Scammers, riding on other network's infrastructure, exploiting consumers with bubbly plastic pearls...hahaha - sorry!

1huge1

If I hear one more uninformed fool saying 3 still has a walled garden ill go insane! there internet services are the best choice in ireland all you have to do is buy one of their good add on's,

you did make some good points but as for being outside 3g coverage well they do have a lot fo the country covered.

Your really looking at all the bad points though

maddflogg

Well...I know they've lowered the garden wall, and yes, you get free stuff, but it's free because there still IS A WALL!!! Maybe the term "walled garden" is stupid? But then put it in another nutshell for me "fool" will you? The phones are branded beyond recognition, i.e. Functions disabled etc etc (no 3G, so, e.g. No track id... Also, 3g is heavy on battery, no reason to use it for "light" web browsing...but no, all you can do without 3g is buy games... )...the area I live in is referred to as 2.5g on their very accurate map (lol)...now other than streaming probs there shouldn't be an issue with ordinary web access! i know, I know...their network setup means some restrictions re. GPRS, but I was making the point that compared to other networks it very much is a "walled garden", a walled garden with loads of freebies - and imho for my needs, all those freebies do not outweigh the disadvantages! When I took the 3-w850i to town where there is 3g reception the web-experience sooo sucked compared to 3g switched off using operamini or safari or minimo or wm IE on e61, n73, treo, n91, k750...it's beyond believe to anyone who only know's the 3-web experience! And honestly: n73 etc have some great gprs features that by their very design do not require 3g (and again: 3g is heavier on battery live! DO NOT look forward to a 3g only N95!!!), but boing "no, we currently cannot enable those features"...verbatim! "cannot"??? You MADE the n73 not being usable as a modem! Because you want to sell your 3g modem!!!right? Right!

sorry, but that's what gets me! The insincerity branded as service! But, hey, at least they have a 14-day-no-quibble-return-policy...the best policy they have! And all this of course is just my opinion, shaped by my needs and esperiences on other networks! If you really think the planet 3 freebies are great, and outweigh the loss of truly free browsing where and when you want to, no sites excluded... Well then I have no argument with you!
Simple, really - but don't call me "fool"... A wall is a wall is a wall....

Urban Weigl

Now that 3 are actually signing up customers, they desperately need more masts.

1huge1

Yes they need more masts, especially for their broadband option I hear in dublin its very slow.

and maddflogg 'fool' was harsh but maybe you should check the maps on three.ie because you can see anything you want (they updated them).

And yes those freebies are grand but ya id rather have the choice of a good add on than pay loads. Call it a wall all you want all you have to do is buy one of those add on's and you've access to anything you want for very good prices.

Yes 3G is heavy on battery but in my experience some phones can still have good battery lifes. Example I rarely got my v3x to last more than a day but then I received a free Nokia 6280 of 3 for renewing my contract and most of the time i get 3-4 days battery life. Thats more then enough for me.

Terrontress

maddflogg wrote:

Well...I know they've lowered the garden wall, and yes, you get free stuff, but it's free because there still IS A WALL!!! Maybe the term "walled garden" is stupid? But then put it in another nutshell for me "fool" will you? The phones are branded beyond recognition, i.e. Functions disabled etc etc (no 3G, so, e.g. No track id... Also, 3g is heavy on battery, no reason to use it for "light" web browsing...but no, all you can do without 3g is buy games... )...the area I live in is referred to as 2.5g on their very accurate map (lol)...now other than streaming probs there shouldn't be an issue with ordinary web access! i know, I know...their network setup means some restrictions re. GPRS, but I was making the point that compared to other networks it very much is a "walled garden", a walled garden with loads of freebies - and imho for my needs, all those freebies do not outweigh the disadvantages! When I took the 3-w850i to town where there is 3g reception the web-experience sooo sucked compared to 3g switched off using operamini or safari or minimo or wm IE on e61, n73, treo, n91, k750...it's beyond believe to anyone who only know's the 3-web experience! And honestly: n73 etc have some great gprs features that by their very design do not require 3g (and again: 3g is heavier on battery live! DO NOT look forward to a 3g only N95!!!), but boing "no, we currently cannot enable those features"...verbatim! "cannot"??? You MADE the n73 not being usable as a modem! Because you want to sell your 3g modem!!!right? Right!

sorry, but that's what gets me! The insincerity branded as service! But, hey, at least they have a 14-day-no-quibble-return-policy...the best policy they have! And all this of course is just my opinion, shaped by my needs and esperiences on other networks! If you really think the planet 3 freebies are great, and outweigh the loss of truly free browsing where and when you want to, no sites excluded... Well then I have no argument with you!
Simple, really - but don't call me "fool"... A wall is a wall is a wall....

I really can't get the grip of what it is you are trying to say...but...

I have 3 on an N73 with the mobile broadband add on. I use Opera Mini to browse the web, simply because it holds the last few pages in memory for hitting "back". I use real player to listen to some radio stations which are unavailable on FM. I use AFT to send texts. Gmail, Google Maps, Dorsh, MSN Messenger all work fine. I have downloaded songs which are WMA files and been able to store them. I also can download audio podcasts off the BBC website and listen to them at a time of my choosing.

I don't find battery life to be an issue although the phone is only 2 months old so that is not to say it won't get worse.

I would like someone to tell me what I am missing out on with this walled garden? If I were not to be subscribing to the 3 walled garden, what would the advantage be?

1huge1

Yes thats exactly what I was trying to tell him, you really seem to be getting good use of of mobile broadband by the way

Terrontress

I absolutely love it.

I have had two friends sign up and my girlfriend is going to take on the 3pay phone I have spare since getting my upgrade.

There seem to be people on this board that are very negative about 3 and give it a knock regardless about what people are discussing.

I think the customer service is great. The people are helpful and get the job done. To complain just because they are Indian has to be seen as racist. Sure their accent is a bit more difficult to understand but if the 3 call centre was to be put in Dublin, chances are it wouldn't be staffed by people whose first language is English.

Tony_ire

Well I cant imagine goin back to o2 and paying 1c per kb. My €5.99 broadband bundle is great value. I dont have any sites blocked, can use the gmail app to send free emails, google earth is free, can use the opera mini browser.... and if i haven't got my 3modem with me I can use my k800 as a modem..no extra charge.

That's my experience, and i'm on 3pay.

rc28

Tony_ire wrote:

Well I cant imagine goin back to o2 and paying 1c per kb. My €5.99 broadband bundle is great value. I dont have any sites blocked, can use the gmail app to send free emails, google earth is free, can use the opera mini browser.... and if i haven't got my 3modem with me I can use my k800 as a modem..no extra charge.

That's my experience, and i'm on 3pay.

Whoa, that looks brilliant! I'm really about to switch to 3 now as I learn more about them. Are all the sites in the phones bookmarks (my3) free to view as much as you like(yahoo mail etc)? And opera mini works ok with 3? Is google maps one of the free bookmarks, can I use it in europe for free too (i'm going to france in 2weeks and it would be amazing if I could get the maps of cities on my phone)?

Sam Vimes

Terrontress wrote:

I think the customer service is great. The people are helpful and get the job done. To complain just because they are Indian has to be seen as racist. Sure their accent is a bit more difficult to understand but if the 3 call centre was to be put in Dublin, chances are it wouldn't be staffed by people whose first language is English.

i don't complain because they're indian. i complain because they are given a set of pre-defined responses and can't help with anything that's not on the list.

today there was a thread suggesting that the stupid 3pay proxy might be gone so i thought i'd ring them up and ask. of course the agent had no idea what i was talking about when i mentioned the proxy, he just kept saying "you should be able to access websites" and asking if i'd verified my age. i explained that i didn't want to access websites, i wanted to use the gmail application and opera mini. i then had to explain what gmail is, what opera is, what an application is and how its different to accessing a website. i had to do this several times very slowly before he (pretended to) understand.

his response "you should be able to access websites". i then asked to speak to a member of the technical department. instead he put me on hold to go and ask someone what the proxy is and how it was stopping me using programs. ten minutes later he came back and said that they should work. i explained that i'd been told that before but everyone i know who uses 3pay disagrees. then he put me on hold again and a few minutes later a member of the technical team came onto the phone and asked the problem. i explained it again. his response "you should be able to access websites". he tried to say i had the wrong version of opera mini. i explained that it had worked fine with a billpay sim card. he suggested the same thing again a few minutes later. he suggested that everything was the problem except the proxy which 3 have deliberately put in place to cripple the 3pay internet for no apparent reason

in the end i gave up and just went out and bought credit to test it myself. and guess what, its telling me i have to verify my age, which i've already done twice. they keep forgetting that i've done it. i called again and was told that they've "gone ahead and escalated it"* and it should be fixed within 24 to 48 hours**.


yes the only reason i hate 3 customer care is racism.



*response number 1 when they don't know

**response number 2 when they don't know

Sam Vimes

Tony_ire wrote:

Well I cant imagine goin back to o2 and paying 1c per kb. My €5.99 broadband bundle is great value. I dont have any sites blocked, can use the gmail app to send free emails, google earth is free, can use the opera mini browser.... and if i haven't got my 3modem with me I can use my k800 as a modem..no extra charge.

That's my experience, and i'm on 3pay.

you got opera mini to work? how? how long has it been working? is everything routed through the iethree.widerweb.net proxy for you?


in short, how the hell is your 3pay internet not crippled like everyone else's is?

when you say 3pay you do mean pre pay and not bill pay right?

rc28

Commander Vimes wrote:

in short, how the hell is your 3pay internet not crippled like everyone else's is?

Apparently 3 have "uncrippled" it recently:
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055125955&page=2

Sam Vimes

rc28 wrote:

Apparently 3 have "uncrippled" it recently:
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055125955&page=2

yeah that's the thread i was talking about in my rant above. i can't verify it for myself because its "been escalated and i have to wait 24 to 48 hours".

in that thread tallus said that he tried to get opera to work and it failed, pretty much whats happened to me when i last tried in june. and when i save any pages that work as a bookmark they still have the widerweb prefix so i think they might just have unblocked gmail. a good start but without opera its still useless

Terrontress

Vimes, I have had nothing but good experience with the Indian call centre staff.

People mention their nationality when it is not relevant to what is being spoken about which, in itself, is on dodgy ground racially but there are also threads like these two.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055079598&referrerid=&highlight=indian%203
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054955611&referrerid=&highlight=indian%203

There is nothing to suggest that if 3 were to open a call centre in Dublin, the staff would know any more.

It is simply poor staff training rather than the nationality or background of the people working there.

rc28

Commander Vimes wrote:

in that thread tallus said that he tried to get opera to work and it failed

Yes that is Tallus who couldn't get the gmail app to work either even though others could(after previously not been able to) so that suggests to me that there is either something wrong with his old v3x or he just has to change some settings. Other people are using opera with 3pay now so i don't see what they stand to gain from lying to the thread?

Slice

Customer care and sales is all about building relationships, talk to any account manager for any large company providing any kind of product or service and you'll find them playing golf with their customers and relating on a basis that goes beyond the service itself - I think it works on the same principles with callcentres - I want to feel like I'm at least dealing with someone who is in some familiar with who I am from a cultural point of view. I don't think that's racism at all.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

flodis79

rc28 wrote:

Yes that is Tallus who couldn't get the gmail app to work either even though others could(after previously not been able to) so that suggests to me that there is either something wrong with his old v3x or he just has to change some settings. Other people are using opera with 3pay now so i don't see what they stand to gain from lying to the thread?

I cannot use data in the Gmail app. Can just download it, but cannot connect after entering the login details.