EE's degraded service and coverage - time to leave after 15 years?

ZhugeEX

NFH wrote: »

This is a problem with modern handsets. Before I had an iPhone, I had 3G handsets that I could set to use 3G only. The iPhone has never allowed this; I don't understand why. I used to do this at home, because I had local Orange 3G-only transmitter (very rare, I know), and if my phone handed over to a weak distant 2G transmitter during the call, I would get cut off because it wouldn't hand back to 3G without first ending the call.

I'm fairly sure pretty much every android phone has a 3G only option.

stormtreader

Seems we're not the only ones that have noticed, the shropshirestar website poted a story yesterday saying that EE have been told to apologise for poor coverage, im sure thats told them

Arms_2

The local transmitter for BS 34 when owned by Orange allowed us to have a full signal indoors. Now under EE there is the faintest signal indoors. Correspondence with them over many months in the last year was fruitless. The transmitter in question is less than half a mile away. The area is populated with housing in the north of Bristol. Compare this to being able to get a full Orange F signal in the middle of rural France nowhere near any village. No contest. If EE are considered the best I dread to think what the others are like. Virgin on a weekly basis keep trying to sell me their mobile but since they use EE transmitters they have no chance of succeeding. There needs to be a central independent body to solve these type of problems. There is currently no accountability.

pioneer31

I've noticed signal deterioration in many areas of the UK, not just my local area. Orange used to be brilliant in my hometown, now it's a total joke. Vodaphone on 2G is now smashing them into the ground

ConsumerGuy0016

pioneer31 wrote: »

I've noticed signal deterioration in many areas of the UK, not just my local area. Orange used to be brilliant in my hometown, now it's a total joke. Vodaphone on 2G is now smashing them into the ground

If you're having serious and unresolved problems with your signal then you could take your operator to court to get your contract cancelled and get some money back as I have done.

Give me a PM if you want specific information or have a look at the thread I started a couple weeks back.

grumbler

Surprisingly, he is on PAYG. A very low user I guess, that doesn't care about the cost.

eco

my ex is on EE I used to think he was complaining for nothing when he was waving the phone, about saying he was trying to get in touch with whatever satellite was passing.
I won't go with EE next time I swop.

Barny1979

Their Customer Service is less than zero too.

d123

ConsumerGuy0016 wrote: »

If you're having serious and unresolved problems with your signal then you could take your operator to court to get your contract cancelled and get some money back as I have done.

Out of interest, have you actually won a court case pertaining to the network not offering service where you wanted it? If so, what were you awarded for lack of service?

Your case related to you not receiving a signal in your house, didn't it?

ZhugeEX

Merry Christmas everyone.

Can't believe it's been well over a year since this thread started! Well, time for another update!

EE have completed their network optimisation project and decommissioned a total of ~8,200 masts over the past couple of years. The number was reduced from around ~9,000. There are still a number of Orange masts that have not been removed and a lot of them have already been upgraded and integrated into MBNL. However there are still a number of Orange sites yet to be upgraded and refreshed and EE's team is due to complete this project by Autumn 2015.

So what does this mean?

No more masts are going to be decommissioned. If they are it's for a different reason than the above. This means that no one should notice more degradation on EE's network or additional black spots. If anything people should start seeing an increase in coverage thanks to the 4G roll out and the Orange sites being refreshed, upgraded and integrated into MBNL.

Please take a look below for detailed break down of the number of masts removed.

Number of sites decommissioned:
2012 - 2,659
2013 - 3,351
2014 - ~2,200

Total : ~8,200

EE are going to be rolling out some pretty great stuff in 2015 starting with their 800MHz spectrum. This low frequency spectrum will be used in rural areas to expand 4G coverage and will compliment the current 1800MHz roll out that is currently going on. EE will also be launching VoLTE next year with SRVCC. What this means is that you'll be able to make calls when on 4G and seamlessly drop down to 3G/2G should you move out of a 4G area.

EE are also rolling out 2600MHz which is being combined with 1800MHz spectrum. This will provide speeds up to 300Mbps and is being branded as 4G+ or LTE-Advanced worldwide. Wi-Fi calling is also on the list for 2015 and will launch for iOS and Android early in the new year.

EE continues to lead the way in 4G with over 80% population coverage and 7 million 4G subscribers. In fact EE accounts for 45% of all 4G subscribers in the UK and are also the largest 4G network in Europe with a 12% share. Over 80% of EE's customers are choosing a 4G package when signing up and with the huge amount of legacy customers on T-Mobile and Orange it is clear that EE's 4G subscriber base will continue to grow at the same or even faster rate in 2015.