Continue reading »]]> Long time readers of GEEK! may know the Orange complaint I made in late 2009. In the past, I’ve also written to Ofcom and complained about the vague FUP that gave no details as to what they defined as “unlimited”.

Well, finally, Orange have removed their FUP and now supposedly no longer limits the amount of data people can download. Orange claim that they now offer totally unlimited downloads.

Previously, Orange would contact you if they believed you were using an excessive amount of data in a given month. If they believed that you were not taking action following their warnings, they would throttle your connection to almost unusable speeds during peak periods until they were satisfied that you had changed your ways.

I love what they’ve written though: “Some of the other broadband providers out there track and limit your speed if you reach a certain amount of data, we don’t.” Of course, they would know that – because they used to be one of the few providers that actually did it!

Continue reading »]]> Orange has decided that it will revamp it’s broadband packages in just over a week. This is probably an attempt to try and regain some of it’s lost customers following the company’s shameful performance over the last few months.

Customers have become fed up of the poor customer service and vague fair use policy. As a result, Orange has been loosing customers to other ISPs with better deals and clearer agreeements.

The new plans will replace the current plans and hopefully make the deals a little simpler.

However, ISPReview says that the “unlimited” packages will remain. So, unless Orange do something about their bizarre fair use policy, they won’t get anywhere. In addition, new packages won’t resolve any problems with customer service.

We’ll have to wait and see what the new plans bring. I don’t think they’ll be much to be excited about – long contracts, stupid policies, cheap routers and awful speeds. Surprise me, Orange.

(Source: ISPReview)

Continue reading »]]> So as you probably know, I recently built my own computer. It’s all going brilliantly. Except from one thing…

Orange are a little bit annoying sometimes. In fact, they aren’t what you’d call an A* ISP. Their router is a little shabby (it can’t decide whether it prefers English or French, and it often forgets that it has ever been turned on), and their customer service isn’t brilliant either.

However, the one thing that annoys me most of all is the poor management of bandwidth usage. It’s a pain. I know that Orange seem to provide 40GB of monthly usage but they give you no means whatsoever of monitoring how much bandwidth you have consumed in one month.

Then, they say that if you use more than 40GB a month they’ll send you a warning and then cut your speed to 512kbps!! What the hell? They won’t let you monitor your bandwidth but they’ll send you a letter if you go in the slightest over 40GB.

And then if you fail to lower your usage after that, they’ll cut your connection!

Frankly, I’d rather pay a little extra per month than have my speed throttled if I go over my usage. Doesn’t that seem like the more sensible thing to do from a company point of view? They make a little more money rather than loosing a customer.

Honestly I think Orange are making big mistakes and ripping us off. Bethere do unlimited 8MB broadband for £13.50 per month on a shorter contract (12 months, compared to Orange’s 18 months) and there’s no set limit on how much you can use per month!

Come on Orange, this is rubbish!

Continue reading »]]> Orange, the UK mobile and phone/broadband service provider, has launched it’s “Recycle and Reward” campaign.

The new campaign allows members of the public to hand in their old mobile phones and get paid a cheque as a reward. It is an effort to cut down the amount of defunct mobile phones we all have in our houses – yes we all have them; all those old contract phones stashed away in the bottom drawer of your office cabinet.

Anyway, Orange has said they will tell you how much your phone is worth when you hand it in store, and if you agree to it, they will send you a cheque within 7 days. Pretty cool, eh?

Well I know I’ve got plenty of phones stashed away that could go to better use as notes in my pocket.

This could prove handy. If the prices are competitive to other phone recycling providers, this service could be a huge success.

Continue reading »]]> If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the iPhone 3GS on Orange, you’ll be pleased to know that Orange will be launching the iPhone on the 10th of November.

Still not sure on what it will cost, but hopefully a little price competition will begin soon. In addition, the CEO of 3 has expressed interest in bringing the iPhone onto its network, so prices may begin to fall, but very very slowly.

Can’t wait for O2′s exclusivity to end!

Continue reading »]]> Well after news recently arrived that Orange was gaining the iPhone later this year, there’s been more information.

Vodafone has apparently also managed to organise a deal to sell the iPhone. They won’t be as quick as Orange to get it, with news going round that they will have it sometime early next year. Orange have said that they aim to have it in stores “before Christmas”.

However, it does mean that iPhone sales in the UK will probably rocket up as it becomes available on three providers.

I think Vodafone was beginning to worry that they were going to be missing out. If O2 and Orange had the iPhone, T-Mobile and Vodafone would be the only large network providers not to have the iPhone. Now, T-Mobile will soon be merging with Orange, so Vodafone will be left out on the iPhone.

Information still demonstrates that the iPhone is still in high demand, so it would be a big miss out for Vodafone to loose the iPhone.

Well, I’m looking forward to seeing this on the market. It will definitely bring on a nice price war!

Continue reading »]]> It has been announced today that Orange will get the iPhone 3G and 3GS in the UK, after Apple reaches a deal with a further company. This means that O2 will no longer be the only UK provider of the iPhone.

Orange is saying that it will hopefully have the iPhone in its stores before Christmas, which will hopefully boost their sales quite dramatically. It will also hopefully mean that prices for the iPhone will fall as a price war initialises.

Personally I think it is great news that we finally have a second operator in the UK to provide the iPhone. I am not a great fan of O2 (mainly because their 3G and HSDPA coverage is pretty dreadful) and am glad to see that Orange are going to be taking a share in UK iPhone profits.

Bring on the price war!

Continue reading »]]> Is T-Orange the new network to replace T-Mobile and Orange in the UK?

Unlikely, but it has been confirmed that T-Mobile and Orange will merge sometime in the next 2-3 years.

It’s not going affect you in the near future, but it looks like we might be waving goodbye to the brand names T-Mobile and Orange in a few years time.

At the moment, it looks like Orange will be taking over T-Mobile rather than the other way round, but it looks like T-Mobile staff will still be taking an active part in the new merging.

It could be as early as next month when the deal is set in stone, but the networks will continue for 18 months independently.

So it’s nothing to worry about for now, but I would think twice about opening a new contract with either of the companies.

GEEK! will keep you up to date as news flows in.