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UK, France, Germany iPhone Soon?

Evangelion said:
The phone is processing the data at the same speed, no matter if it's 3G or GPRS. Using 3G, the data arrives slightly faster than with GPRS, but the difference is neglible.
Click to expand...

Most people think of HSDPA when they talk about 3G. That's the probem i think.

GPRS: up to 171.2 kbit/s
EDGE: up to 384 kbit/s
CDMA (UMTS): up to 384 kbit/s
WCDMA (UMTS): up to 2 Mbit/s (1920 kbit/s)
HSDPA (UMTS): up to 14.4 Mbit/s gross (10.8 Mbit/s after deductions), HSDPA-Category 12 (=max. 1.8 Mbit/s), HSDPA-Category 6 (=max. 3.6 Mbit/s)
 
T-Mobile customer service were great when I phoned up to try and switch to O2. They said that I could have a new phone and that they would match any price plan on offer from any competitor. When I pointed out that this was all well and good but not really of any relevance as I couldn't get a signal in my home, office or half of Edinburgh. Their response? "That's fine sir, I understand, thanks for your call."

Of course this was a few years ago.
 
ABM said:
Most people think of HSDPA when they talk about 3G. That's the probem i think.

GPRS: up to 171.2 kbit/s
EDGE: up to 384 kbit/s
CDMA (UMTS): up to 384 kbit/s
WCDMA (UMTS): up to 2 Mbit/s (1920 kbit/s)
HSDPA (UMTS): up to 14.4 Mbit/s gross (10.8 Mbit/s after deductions), HSDPA-Category 12 (=max. 1.8 Mbit/s), HSDPA-Category 6 (=max. 3.6 Mbit/s)
Click to expand...

Nice clarification. When talking about 3G I've qualified what I mean by stating we need HSDPA (see earlier in the thread).

All new mid to high end phones due in the same release window as iPhone are equipped with this technology. SE has a few very nice phones due in the autumn with HSDPA.
 
Those Europeans will have legitimate access to GSM. It's not really fair. Why should they have a better deal than we get? I hope Apple's prices are doubled as they usually are. If they want GSM they should pay for it! :apple:
 
Rom Rim said:
Those Europeans will have legitimate access to GSM. It's not really fair. Why should they have a better deal than we get? I hope Apple's prices are doubled as they usually are. If they want GSM they should pay for it! :apple:
Click to expand...

What the hell are you talking about?
 
Rom Rim said:
Those Europeans will have legitimate access to GSM. It's not really fair. Why should they have a better deal than we get? I hope Apple's prices are doubled as they usually are. If they want GSM they should pay for it! :apple:
Click to expand...

You're the "I didn't like Amsterdam" guy aren't you? It shows.

:D

Back to the topic. It looks like, if no 3G for iPhone then I'll try a Samsung i620 (next gen "Blackjack") with Missing Sync for a while.
 
2 dates in the diary 4/5th September and ~25th September.

Rom Rim said:
Those Europeans will have legitimate access to GSM. It's not really fair. Why should they have a better deal than we get? I hope Apple's prices are doubled as they usually are. If they want GSM they should pay for it! :apple:
Click to expand...

In the UK we've been paying through the nose for cellphone use/ data use/ high end broadband speeds. Now the market is slowly getting there (coverage of broadband, ADSL2+, companies like Be who do 24Mb broadband, data plansfrom 3 etc)

Why should we get a better deal? Our telcos forked out for it, we've been paying for there 3G contracts, and now have something that will hopefully use it at a fair cost for data usage.The companies have paid legitimately big sums, e.g. O2 for it's 3G contract was ~£4 billion. O2 has now O2 tested HSDPA and is/has already launched a 3.6Mbps HSDPA network (in Ireland), so launching a data-centric device which makes no use of that investment would be politically difficult.


O2 will have to launch at least in the UK with 3G (it's only announcing 5th September/25th September, as the product release to the stores can be later.) The 3G will be it seems have slightly different dimensions (larger) with an upgraded screen etc, and probable Apple TV integration somehow.

Through different network readiness, different contracts (e.g. France's laws on unlocking provider after 6 months, 2 years), and the state of the markets in UK all come to give UK and other European countries a chance at getting 3G iPhone soon.

We don't need to pay extra really in the UK at least as sterling is so strong, plus there is fierce competition on the market already. Free Nokia N95s? Rival Crackberrys with 3G and the multimedia extras? iPhone has serious competition in the European market, and that's why Apple have been making 3G versions to share with it, and to upgrade the US iPhone.
<Edit - spelling>
 
I think that we will get the same non-3G iPhone than in the US. I doubt that we will see a 3G iPhone before mid to end 2008.
 
Why the delay though? It's not like 3G is new here in at least some parts of Europe? I think people would take the hit if they knew their iPhone was 3G capable, but being held back till the US caught up.
 
ABM said:
I think that we will get the same non-3G iPhone than in the US. I doubt that we will see a 3G iPhone before mid to end 2008.
Click to expand...

I'd agree... sadly.

At one point, I did hold out some hope that the only reason for not announcing the Euro deals was so they could announce a second gen iPhone with 3G with a long enough delay that the very early adopters didn't feel too screwed.

I'm due an O2 upgrade in the next month and I will wait to see what the deal with the iPhone is and these new data plans they're rolling out. Otherwise, the N95 looks tempting although my current N73 has kinda put me off S60 phones.
 
I suspect Apple will find the Iphone not to be so succesful once the press in EU make it clear that this is a slow model (if it is in fact non 3G) and many people will wait for 3G or go elsewhere for similar.

I want an Iphone but will not buy GPRS model (or buy used from eBay if price was cheap). I have GPRS now on my Nokia and will not go half measure.
 
Having UMTS or not will not be THE big thing in my opinion (not anymore)

Just have a look on the UMTS coverage, i.e. Germany:

t-mobile.jpg
 
ABN: Isn't there more to life that T Mobile though ? And of course more to Europe than Germany:!
 
I am sure there is, but unfortunately i didn't found UMTS coverage maps for France (Orange) and the UK (O2).

Rumors say these countries are next... That's the reason for looking after those.
 
For existing customers how hard is it to move onto the iPhone? I'm a current O2 customer in the UK, do I just buy the iPhone and upgrade my contract to unlimited data? Is that how it works with AT&T?
 
Well, I've emailed the Customer service - have a N73 with them (like a few others above) so will see if they can come out with it. It'll more likely be published when the ontracts are confirmed to the press, as they'll want to boast about coverage and speed.
 
The coverage on each network is easy to find on their respective websites.

We are far from full coverage for 3G with O2 and Three.

For O2 (dark blue is video/3G):

MAP100585100251411743.GIF


Vodafone are like this:

Map.aspx


Three like this:
Hutch3GUKCoverage_hut10map012714712294812.jpg


and t-Mobile:

UMTS_UK_magenta_ds31101a2121965496.png



Bottom line after I've properly looked into this is that the netwroks aren't there yet for 3G coverage quite as much as I'd thought (though it's mostly fine for where I need it).

Edit: I think these images may disappear over time. Go to the respective websites for up to date info, the low coverage is an eye opener.
 
UK o2 UMTS info

For O2 - the one relevant for UK customers of iPhone:

MTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) coverage map.

Please follow the steps given below to find if you have 3G coverage in your area:

1. Please click on the link http://www.o2.co.uk/
2. When our website opens, please click on the 'Services' tab.
3. Now click on 'UK coverage' that appears on the left hand side of your screen (in the blue column).
4. The next page that opens, give you an option to check the 3G coverage in your area.

You can check this in any of the following ways:

a) By entering your postcode.
b) By entering your town/city
c) Your motorway junction.
d) Cell Site reference (if you know one)
e) By entering the name of the place.


If you need further details about O2, please visit our online Help Centre at:

http://www.o2.co.uk/help
 
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