Protecting our interests
By making phone companies over exaggerate their phone signals
UK communications regulator Ofcom has opened an investigation into Vodafone and EE for allegedly giving inaccurate data about mobile coverage areas. The two investigations were opened on 1 October and both will examine "whether there are reasonable grounds for believing" that each operator "has failed to comply with its …
Well there's no Vodafone signal in and around Brailes, Warwickshire. Not even enough to send or receive an SMS. Thankfully I only go there to play golf so it's a good thing for me but Brailes isn't all that small nor isolated half way up a mountain. Kind of shocking to find a large village in the South East with no mobile coverage.
Except the EE/Ofcom dispute here relates to the 3G network, which EE say has had less geographic reach than their 4G network for a couple of years. 2G/3G-only areas still exist, but they're getting increasingly rare.
And ESN is primarily (exclusively?) using 4G.
...that the figures you get online are absolutely zero substitute for anecdotal "evidence". It has long been my experience that Vodafone's signal is rammed against the stops in cities but with zero throughput due to saturation; but almost no signal at all in non-city areas. And that EE, while not boasting such high signal levels, seems to boast good throughput pretty much wherever I go.
Also, I don't see ANYONE using coverage data to bolster or direct their purchasing decisions... I see people using bundle content and price, alongside which shiny fondle slab they get.
Where I work did have to rely (to some amount) on the information, as we provide a service over quite a large rural area in northern England.
We also did a "drive by" service check, with phones from our existing provider and one from EE on the dash, checking signal strength over a wide area.
We are now with EE and have been for several years.
On the point of replacing airwave, they only have to provide the same amount of signal / service that airwave currently provides, not 100% coverage.