Opinion: 3 switcheroo makes Telstra seem like good value

By Munir Kotadia on Feb 26, 2010 3:11 PM
Filed under Telco/ISP

Switch back - or I might switch off.

For the first time since moving to Australia I am thinking about switching my mobile phone service to Telstra - and it's not because of Cabbioke!

Having had five years with Vodafone and then switching to 3 in mid-2009, I have come to the conclusion that it might just be worth paying Telstra's ridiculous prices in order to get some reliable coverage.

Yesterday, 3 did a network switcheroo in my area - so now when its customers are not in range of its 3G network, the handsets try to connect with Vodafone's 2G network. Before this change, 3 had defaulted to Telstra's 2G network.

Screenshot from my iPhone

For me, the switch has so far been a complete disaster. My mobile phone is about as useful as, well as a phone that has no service. The handset seems to be either in roaming mode or there is no service at all.

The strangest part is that area where there were previously no noticeable 3G signal issues - such as at the iTnews.com.au offices in McMahons Point (Sydney) - I now even have difficulties making a phone call without dropout. Or at my train station in Sydney's inner west, for that matter.

I'm not sure exactly what 3 has done and neither, it seems, do its customers.

Within hours of the initial story about the switch appearing on iTnews, readers claiming to be customers of 3 say they have not been informed about the switch while other say they have been able to roam on the Vodafone network for up to two months.

A quick look at the forums on Whirlpool indicate 3 customers have been experiencing service issues for months.

User drzeus claims to have been a satisfied 3 customer for many years. The user wrote: "Increasingly my phone spends at least 20 attempts every day searching, switching to VF, Roaming or No service like a Yo Yo... I spent 45min on the phone with 3 today only to be forced to reset the settings on my iphone 2-3 times and jump through hoops only to be told "it must be your phone as the computer shows that you *should* be within a 3 zone".

"I love 3 and have enjoyed their value plans BUT there is something stinky about the network changes thus far. Unfortunately tomorrow I will be walking into a Telstra shop....I hate the bastards but I have no choice," added drzeus.

Other Whirlpool users agree with drzeus and even suggest that the service issues might be a move to try and migrate users from 3 to Vodafone. It seems unlikely that this is the case but it is however very likely that 3 is losing customers because of its service issues.

I really don't care which network 3 uses to piggy-back my calls, as long as the service is reliable. If this is the kind of coverage I can now expect from 3, I will no longer require its services either.

The biggest question for 3 users looking to move is where to go. I earlier said paying Telstra's high prices might be worth it for the reliability but a few minutes examining the company's pricing plans has sent shudders down my spine and into my wallet.

All it would take to make me switch is for another telco to recognise an opportunity to snap up some market share from a competitor and offer a special deal to migrate. I for one would be very willing to listen.

Have you experienced problems with th 3 network in the last 24 hours?

Opinion: 3 switcheroo makes Telstra seem like good value

10 comments in this discussion

"Thanks for all your responses. @renai_lemay - not the Renai from Delimiter.com.au? Welcome to our forums. I noticed you happily filing stories at Kickstart while everyone else was struggling with ..."

By mkotadia

Tags

vha, vodafone, hutchison, 2g, 3g, network, coverage, reach, telstra, next

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Comments: 10

renai_lemay Feb 26, 2010 4:30 PM	I just signed up with Telstra's Next G network for mobile 3G access on my laptop. I also have an Optus iPhone. I have to say, after two weeks of using Next G, it's fantastic. No drop-outs, no blackspots ... can this be real? Of course, I pay through the nose for the privilege ... but when you're at a tech conference and there are 50 other people there trying to access the Optus tower, I don't think the price is too steep.
singo79 Feb 26, 2010 6:11 PM	I have never been an advocate for Telstra, I like many Australians actually despise Telstra, but what I cannot complain about is their coverage. Back in the mid 90's I was with Optus, that was until 3 came on to the market. I was one of the suckers to originally sign up with 3 and had to persevere with their large, bulky and down right crappy phones. Though things did improve with more suppliers getting into the 3G market and better handsets hitting the stores. Living in Adelaide I never had an issue with 3, that was until I had to travel out of Adelaide and noticed that coverage dropped away pretty quickly. However, I put up with this fact as the price of the service was the cheapest around and not only that I wasn't travelling out of 3's coverage zone too often. However I am now living in the country and 3 is just not an option. I held it off as long as I could and was pleasantly surprised to see Telstra offering the iPhone 3GS on a cap plan. That was the deal clincher and I ported my service to Telstra in July '09. No matter where I travel I have coverage, unlike friends who are on either Optus or Vodafone, despite what their coverage maps say. Though the Telstra cap plans are still pretty average value, they are a lot better then what they were previously offering. One can only hope that they review their cap plans in the future and decide to increase the value. But this is Telstra after all and that is a tall ask. In short, Telstra = crappy company, but the best coverage. 3 = great value, but horrible coverage.
gikku Feb 26, 2010 6:38 PM	umm, 3 made the switch to Vodafone in December. Free GSM data, no data roaming charges. It's all good. Great value beats great coverage everytime. Do you really, REALLY, need coverage everywhere, everytime? Don't kid yourself, you don't.
Tom Grimshaw Feb 26, 2010 9:15 PM	gikku, I venture to suggest that viewpoint would be severely in the minority. I sometimes "joke" to others that this is an almost planet. It is extremely under engineered. We have a water supply except you can't use as much as you want. We have mobile phones except their calls drop out. We have regulatory authorities but they are in cahoots with the drug companies they are supposed to regulate... ...oh, I could just go on and on. But there's no point, however long I went on you could add to it from your personal experience. Personally, I would like things to do as they are supposed to. I want a government that actually has a blueprint for the economic and social development of this country instead of a puppet at the end of the strings pulled by vested interest groups. I want medical doctors that are paid to keep people well instead of dispensing drugs to suppress symptoms for an ever growing cacophony of incurable conditions. Having a mobile phone that connects and allows me to make calls without dropping out seems a pretty tame ask by comparison.
Fletch Feb 26, 2010 10:30 PM	This piece stinks of telstra promo, but i'll bite. You don't say why you left Voda but you conveniently don't say why you'll switch to optus? I'm on three and my wife's on voda. We both have coverage everywhere we hang out. When we holiday in the country she has coverage i don't... fair enough. We live in a big country we accept they can't put a tower everywhere, even forgetting the economics, think of the carbon footprint cost of dumping a tower and the power it outputs somewhere that stuff all people are going to need. Also you have the wrong phone for Australia, iphone's are geared for the US and do 2100/850 3G, when optus and voda do 2100/900 and three only do 2100 3G. If you want to have great coverage with an iphone, sure, go to telstra for the 2100/850 coverage but don't blame the carrier. If you buy a phone that isn't great on their band it's not their fault. If you bought a phone that rolls 2100/900 as standard and stuck with voda you'd have great 3g coverage in a vast coverage area.
arcanedevice Feb 27, 2010 8:55 AM	gikku - sometimes the issue isn't about having coverage everywhere, but even just having coverage at home! I live about 40km from the Adelaide CBD but still well within 3's supposed coverage area. I can see two towers from my house but don't know who actually 'owns' them. We have one phone still with 3, but I've moved mine across to Telstra. Despite how annoying their charges (and billing practices) can be, my Telstra phone always receives calls and messages no matter where I am within the house. My wife's 3 phone however often doesn't even receive calls. I can be standing next to her and send a message - it never turns up! So while 3 is great on value and sales, they are sadly lacking on coverage.
scan06disk Feb 27, 2010 10:05 AM	Firstly, I'll bet everyone using an iPhone will have coverage issues on any other provider other than Telstra ! I had an iPhone 3GS 32GB, was and still am with 3 Adelaide, had horrid coverage & signal strength... I switched back to my N82, coverage and 3G speeds are great !!! Sold the iPhone 3GS !, hopefully the next iPhone has a stronger cellular module installed....
Digger11 Mar 1, 2010 8:03 AM	I have shite coverage with Optus and 3 at home - but no problems with Telstra coverage. I live 10km from Melb CBD. Depite this I still cannot change to Telstra as I know that my money will go to pay millions of $'s each year to what must be the worst undeperforming management team of any ASX200 company. I take messages on my mobile and call people back on my landline (which is ULLed away from T as well), which is terribly inconvenient - but at least I can sleep at night.
zaphod6502 Mar 1, 2010 9:00 AM	In my experience it seems to be a problem with the iPhone's ability to pick up signals on certain networks. My work phone is a Nokia and has no problems with the Optus network. My iPhone is also with Optus and constantly struggles to remain connected. My friends also have issues with their iPhones on the Optus network. But strangely enough friends with Telstra serviced iPhones have no issues. As for 3 I gave up on that company years ago and have no intention to go back ever.
mkotadia Mar 1, 2010 1:19 PM	Thanks for all your responses. @renai_lemay - not the Renai from Delimiter.com.au? Welcome to our forums. I noticed you happily filing stories at Kickstart while everyone else was struggling with the dodgy wifi. @singo79 nice little summary of the difference between Telstra and 3. @Fletch I switched from Voda to 3 because i bought an iPhone and wanted a better data plan. Seems like that was a big mistake.