Tag Archives: network

Giffgaff – the “people powered” mobile network

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I recently stumbled across this new UK mobile network, and I have to say – it’s a dream come true for me.

They are a very interesting phone network because they are unique in many ways. When you’ve got your SIM card running and you’re using the network, it all seems very standard and basic – but take a look under the hood and you’ll notice a very clever concept.

The basic idea behind giffgaff is very simple. They cut all the expensive marketing and support services and replace them with much cheaper and efficient solutions. By doing this, they can provide a mobile phone service that is considerably cheaper than competitors whilst having happy customers.

For example, they don’t do telephone customer service. Instead, they provide an online community forum that people can submit problems to and members of the network respond with possible solutions. There are also moderators and managers who can help with the slightly more technical problems. And for peace of mind, they also provide an “Ask an Agent” service for the people who need administrative help such as call bars and setup help.

They don’t own any masts – these are provided by O2 and work pretty well. 3G coverage is not brilliant (O2 have always had a bad reputation for 3G coverage) but 2G is coverage is very good for calls and texts. You’ll get 3G in large towns and cities but don’t expect to get it in your rural countryside home.

That brings me nicely onto the subject of costs. They are trying to keep things simple by simply providing one pay as you go tariff. The basic cost of this tariff is as follows:

  • FREE calls (anytime) to other giffgaff members (as long as you top up £10 per 3 months)
  • FREE texts (anytime) to other giffgaff members (as long as you top up £10 per 3 months)
  • 8p per minute calls (flat rate, anytime) to any other UK landline or mobile phone
  • 4p per text to any UK phone.
  • 8p per call to voicemail
  • FREE (100MB per day FUP) internet usage until 25th May 2010 (as long as you top up £10 per 3 months), internet price after that date to be confirmed
  • FREE calls to any 0800 number (I believe you have to remove the 0 at the beginning – ie 800 not 0800 – no longer true, just dial the number as normal and it’s free), and many other freephone numbers including 0500 and 0808 numbers.

So as you can you see, it’s pretty good value. They haven’t sorted bundles (eg for texts or calls) yet, but as far as I am aware, they are working on that.

If you’d like to give it a try, head over to giffgaff.com and request your free SIM. You’ll have to pay £10 when you get it to activate it (this will give you £10 credit) and you’ll be away within a few minutes of activation.

I really love it and I’m pretty sure 3 will be losing my custom as I’m not impressed by their upcoming price increase. I suggest you give it a try. You’ll need an unlocked phone – that’s it.

3 (Three UK) customers outraged by upcoming price changes

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Many customers of Hutchison 3G in the UK have expressed their anger at the upcoming changes to pay as you go prices on the company’s blog.

The company recently proposed changes to the price plans starting April 22nd. The changes will include a charge for voicemail and slightly more expensive calls for people on the 3Pay plan.

I am one of the people who complained, and as a result I have now got my PAC code from the company.

I’ve just spotted the network Giffgaff and have ordered a FREE SIM from them. They look brilliant as they are totally community based – just what a phone network needs to be. Anyhow, I’ll review them when I’ve got my SIM.

I’ll be sad to leave 3 as they used to be fantastic. I have been with them for over 18 months on PAYG and loved them up until the price change. However, if they are going to rip us off with unfair charges, I’ll just walk away.

3 should have thought their plans through a bit more carefully. I think they’ll regret making a move like that so quickly.

Steam – the online game network

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I recently came across Steam after a friend recommended the program to me. I thought it was worth a go as I have pretty good graphics on my new homebuilt PC.

The main purpose of Steam is to give users the ability to download games rather than having to go and buy them on a physical disk. It also means you get access to a wide range of PC only games which may be limited in disk format. It can also be considerably cheaper to use Steam as the regularly run discounts and multipack buys.

So I went ahead and downloaded the free software and gave it a go. Bought my first game (Burnout Paradise) which was on discount at the time, and it immediately started downloading.

As soon as it downloaded (which took a while, but that’s only because my internet connection isn’t rocket speed) I launched the game. I was amazed at how well it actually worked. You get access to the in-game Steam community as well so you can chat to your friends while you are playing games.

I’m actually very happy with Steam and I doubt I will buy another game on DVD. If you’ve got a good internet connection with plenty of bandwidth, it’s a very good idea.

Oh and just in case anyone is concerned – the software is totally legal and Valve (the company who run Steam) have partnerships with many of the big game developers.

Orange UK and T-Mobile UK to merge – T-Orange?

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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.

O2 gets another top-knotch smartphone – the Palm Pre

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Well if you have been reading the tech news lately, you’ll know about the new techy phone – the Palm Pre.

It’s been eagerly anticipated by many people, mainly because it looks like a brilliant competitor to the iPhone. It’s got some brilliant features and looks pretty cool too.

But today, it was revealed that O2 will be hosting the new phone in the UK, which ads it to the collection of fancy smartphones.

I think it is good that all the fancy top-knotch smartphones are ending up on the O2 network, but I do think some of O2’s competitors should get a chance too. To be fair, T-Mobile did get the Android phones which could be very promising, but some of the other networks haven’t really got much to say for themselves.

I think it would be nice to see an iPhone on another network. If O2 would let some other networks have some of the really high-end phones, I think it would be good.