# 3 Mobile



## divadsnilloc (23 May 2006)

I am considering switching over to "3" on a contract basis. However, a colleague of mine has just done this and is having problems with the Sim provided by 3. She has backed up her Vodafone contacts onto a Sim back up unit but the unit won't recognise the 3 Sim. She has another unblocked mobile and copied all her contacts to the phone memory and then attemped to copy them to the 3 Sim, but yet again the 3 Sim wasn't recognised. I put her 3 Sim into my 3G Vodafone mobile and it worked. So, are 3 Sims only 3G functional and will not work on non 3G devices? Also, she cannot receive MMS or picture messages from Vodafone customers as there appears to be an issue between 3 and Vodafone. To verify this, she has received picture messages from an O2 mobile. Upon contacting 3, she was advised that there was a 14 day cooling off period whereby she could cancel her contract. Anybody else with similar experiences?
david.collins@esb.ie


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## Guest107 (24 May 2006)

a 3g sim is a usim and cannot be read or written to bya 2g sim backup device.


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## Humpback (24 May 2006)

Personally, and I'm on 3 myself, I'd take the option of the cooling off period and go with someone else.

I'm waiting till I'm past my 6 months so that I can reduce to their cheapest contract rate per month, so that I can just pay that off and get the hell off their network.

I haven't had any problems with their phones, sims or coverage (given that it's mainly Vodafone coverage), but their customer service is absolutely terrible.

I don't think a whole lot about their security procedures either. I ported a pay as you go Vodafone number across to them, and their procedures said that they would contact me the day they were porting to confirm that it was my number. As it was pay as you go number, they would have no other way to confirm the number was mine except by calling me.

Yet, next thing I know, my phone stops working on Vodafone, and has been ported to 3 without any checking that the number is mine. Unbelievably lax security. Was tempted when Vincent Browne published Eddie Hobbs' phone number in Village sometime before, to see if I could port his number across as well to see if I could get some insider tips on buying foreign property using his number


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## divadsnilloc (24 May 2006)

So, based on 2Packs reply is it true to say that these usims cannot be used on non 3G handsets also?


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## Ron Burgundy (24 May 2006)

i'm with 3 and very happy, great package and when i had a probelm with my handset them delivered a new one to me with 24 hours.

i find customer service great also, the only problem i have is no web texts, thats all they are missing for me.


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## Guest107 (24 May 2006)

ronan_d_john said:
			
		

> I haven't had any problems with their phones, sims or coverage (given that it's mainly Vodafone coverage), but their customer service is absolutely terrible.


I have had problems with their coverage because it ALWAYS seems to be Vodafone coverage and 3 are not building any more network . They have added no new coverage in Galway since 2004 and have nothing in the pipeline.  Their network is at a dead stop.  

While this Voda roaming OK for voice and text its a disaster  for data  when I need to upload. Even when I have native coverage the data speeds are crap and unpredictable. Their customer service is nothing of the sort, they are androids programmed to repeat "We Have 99% Coverage" as often as they can to get rid of you .

The contract is up in June, I will go native Voda to get the proper data speeds off them and humans in customer service thrown in.


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## Ed Cole (26 May 2006)

I am with 3. If you need to back up your SIM it only takes a minute to copy it onto a PC with the connection provided and can add contacts to outlook. As far as coverage, I believe when it does have 3G available it goes to O2 2G. I have had it for 6months now and am very pleased with it. My bill has gone from €50 per month with vodafone to around €30pm.


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## Alex (26 May 2006)

i am also with 3. i was one of their first customers. i joined them in july 05. i find their service and customer care to be excellent. i have never had any problems with them.


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## Christy (30 May 2006)

Same here, I am with 3 since August and find their service and prices excellent. I almost halved what I paying O2.


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## Ballyman (31 May 2006)

Yea, I'm with them too. My bills have gotten smaller also since ieft vodafone.

One gripe I have though is that where I work is at the edge of a 3G cell so the reception is chronic most of the time as the signal doesn't get sufficiently weak for it to automatically change over to 2G but it is bad enough for dropped calls. I can change it back to 2G manually but the phone automatically changes back to 3G after about 2 minutes.

Once I leave work though all is good again!!

Basically what I'm saying is that wherever there isn;t a 3G signal the phone switches over to 3G so it still has a strong signal, except where you are at the edge of a cell where the signal is very very weak but not enough to switch over to 2G and a proper signal. They have a coverage map on their website. have a look at that before you buy.


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## earl (9 Jun 2006)

I joined 3 the day they launched. I'm on the €25/month plan but my bill's usually loads more than that cos I download music videos, MTV, games, etc quite a lot.

I'm in Dublin and have travelled all over the city and never lost my 3G signal.

I'm on 3 for two reasons: 200 minutes for €25 (12.5c/min) is the best around, and nearly all the video content on Planet 3 is completely free and there's no per KB charges for downloading it (Unlike Vodafone!)

I wish their ads weren't so weird though (puking silk?)


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## Alex (11 Jun 2006)

i too think they have weird ads.


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## europhile (11 Jun 2006)

What is the music on their current radio ad? It is most peculiar.


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## newhousey (12 Jun 2006)

Been a 3 customer since December, the only commplaint I have when sending sms to people abroad. Once I sent a message to an Irish friend who was roaming in England, he received the message 36 times!!! While sending messages to a friend in Australia and America the messages appeared to send and I got charged for them but they were never received by my friends... I queried this with the customer service who told me to go to their website which will tell me their coverage aorund the world... This did not help in telling me whether or not my message would be received as you do not know what network your friend is on that your sending it to... They basically told me that for another few years you will not be able to tell if international messages have been received until they have sorted out all their international agreements... They did credit my account €10 for the inconvenience and apart from that I have found the service to be very good....


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## DecB (12 Jun 2006)

earl said:
			
		

> I joined 3 the day they launched. I'm on the €25/month plan but my bill's usually loads more than that cos I download music videos, MTV, games, etc quite a lot.
> 
> I'm in Dublin and have travelled all over the city and never lost my 3G signal.
> 
> ...


 
Earl,  Ur wrong here Vodafone do not charge per KB for downloading videos or music from Vodafone Live !

Dec


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## Humpback (12 Jun 2006)

DecB said:
			
		

> Earl, Ur wrong here Vodafone do not charge per KB for downloading videos or music from Vodafone Live !
> 
> Dec


 
No, they just charge you €4 or whatever to download the content.


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## earl (15 Jun 2006)

divadsnilloc said:
			
		

> She has backed up her Vodafone contacts onto a Sim back up unit but the unit won't recognise the 3 Sim. She has another unblocked mobile and copied all her contacts to the phone memory and then attemped to copy them to the 3 Sim, but yet again the 3 Sim wasn't recognised. I put her 3 Sim into my 3G Vodafone mobile and it worked. So, are 3 Sims only 3G functional and will not work on non 3G devices? Also, she cannot receive MMS or picture messages from Vodafone customers as there appears to be an issue between 3 and Vodafone. To verify this, she has received picture messages from an O2 mobile. Upon contacting 3, she was advised that there was a 14 day cooling off period whereby she could cancel her contract. Anybody else with similar experiences?


Maybe the unit was only designed for 2G sims and not 3G sims (*u*sims)?

And afaik it's against 3's ts & cs to put a 3 sim into a 2G device cos it can cause damage to it.

And in the beginning O2 - 3 MMS wasn't working cos they had no interconnect deal, but they fixed that back in January. And Vodafone - 3 MMS has always worked fine for me.

My mistake about the Vodafone per KB charges (I think I meant to say Meteor!). Vodafone don't charge you per KB for Live downloads. Instead they rip you off by charging *15c *for every page that isn't a menu. And their videos aren't too cheap either (€2 for a Barclay's premiership video?) And they do charge 2c/KB outside Live content.


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## earl (15 Jun 2006)

europhile said:
			
		

> What is the music on their current radio ad? It is most peculiar.


The one on the TV is "[broken link removed]" by Leroy Anderson (I haven't heard the radio ad, but I assume it's much the same)

http://www.visit4info.com/details.cfm?adid=32980


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## OJ123 (20 Jun 2006)

I have a 3 mobile since last year. Coverage is not great around the country. The mobile trys to keep the 3 signal for as long as it can before it goes to vodafone, even when it is very weak. Also I have been abroad a bit in the last year. I had no signal in new york despite guarantees from 3 that i would. Also no signal in malaysia. Seemingly 3 do not have roaming agreements in a lot of countrys. Price wise I find 3 very good. 600 mins for 60 euro and free 3g content which is very good.


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## Alex (4 Jul 2006)

i wonder will 3 introduce upgrades for their bill pay customers soon?


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## Ron Burgundy (5 Jul 2006)

it will be 12 months from your initial contract as with other providers, i don't believe they to it by amount you spend. anyway there aren't too many new models out anyway.


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## Humpback (5 Jul 2006)

Alex said:
			
		

> i wonder will 3 introduce upgrades for their bill pay customers soon?


 
Are 3 in the Irish market 12 months yet? I don't think they are, but they're probably not that far off it either.


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## ClubMan (5 Jul 2006)

Have to laugh...



> Why should you switch [to 3]?
> 
> We offer long-term value, not promotional gimmicks! Our price plans and handsets speak for themselves.





> Get more credit with 3Pay
> 
> You get terrific value for money with pay as you go from 3, not only do you get 3cent talk, text & video all day everyday* ...
> 
> ...


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## Alex (7 Jul 2006)

ronan_d_john said:
			
		

> Are 3 in the Irish market 12 months yet? I don't think they are, but they're probably not that far off it either.


 
almost. they will be in a couple of weeks.


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