Phones 4u to launch “LIFE mobile” virtual network

by Mark Tyson on 22 January 2013, 15:00

Tags: Everything Everywhere, Carphone Warehouse

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Phones 4u, a leading UK mobile phone retailer, with a large presence on the high street and on the internet, will launch its own network in March 2013. The firm has decided to become a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) in partnership with Everything Everywhere (EE). The new network is to be called “LIFE Mobile” and it will offer a wide range of tariffs and services. Initially data services will offer 3G speeds only but the MVNO expects to upgrade to 4G connectivity before the end of 2013.

Talking about the new deal, Tim Whiting, Group Chief Executive at Phones 4u, said “We are delighted to be able to extend our longstanding partnership with EE in order to add LIFE Mobile into the wide range of products and services available at Phones 4u.” He explained that the new LIFE Mobile network would bring greater flexibility to the Phones 4u (and therefore Dialaphone) offerings “LIFE Mobile will enable us flexibility and creativity in designing propositions to give our customers even further choice.  We will sell LIFE Mobile alongside our existing network propositions and are confident the new network will play a key role in driving further growth for our business.”

As a reminder, below is a list of the UK’s major MVNOs for calls and data, a full list is available here.

  • Carphone Warehouse / Talk Mobile– Vodafone
  • ASDA – Vodafone
  • Tesco – O2
  • GiffGaff – O2
  • Virgin – EE
  • TalkTalk Mobile – Vodafone

The new LIFE Mobile network will allow Phones 4u to compete on better terms with high street rival Carphone Warehouse, who operates an MVNO in partnership with Vodafone. It is expected that LIFE Mobile will be at least as competitive as CPW’s Talk Mobile MVNO. Depending upon the area in which you live and work you may find the LIFE Mobile network availability to be better than that of Talk Mobile. Here’s Vodafone’s coverage map, and EE’s coverage map. Overall it’s good to have another competitive mobile network option.



HEXUS Forums :: 8 Comments

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Gotta be good news for the consumers!

I've been with GiffGaff for a year and whilst I adore their unlimited data & reasonable tariffs I am utterly utterly appalled by the signal consistancy I get. My girlfriend is on O2 with an old Iphone 3G(?) and regularly gets 2-3 bars more signal then me. The minute a rival networks offer similar rates & data to GiffGaff I'll be jumping ship without a hesitation.

Typical example is at our flat. One minute I can tether my phone to my laptop and enjoy decent (3G) internet speeds, 5 mins later I make a phone call and 30mins into the phone call the call will be dropped. This has happened twice in the last week when I am on the phone to Sky over Broadband issues, I have been blind furious over having to re-call them, go to the back of the line and start again with the whole trouble shooting process.


Giffgaff :censored:
Andehh
I've been with GiffGaff for a year and whilst I adore their unlimited data & reasonable tariffs I am utterly utterly appalled by the signal consistancy I get. My girlfriend is on O2 with an old Iphone 3G(?) and regularly gets 2-3 bars more signal then me.
Now you've got me confused (easily done) as I thought GiffGaff was an MVNO using O2's network. So in theory you and her should be on the same network. Could this be a phone issue instead of a network one?
crossy
Now you've got me confused (easily done) as I thought GiffGaff was an MVNO using O2's network. So in theory you and her should be on the same network. Could this be a phone issue instead of a network one?

Yes was thinking maybe this too, what phone are you using OP?
Andehh
Gotta be good news for the consumers!…

Definitely, any good major competition may help us get better deals!
Andehh
I've been with GiffGaff for a year and whilst I adore their unlimited data & reasonable tariffs I am utterly utterly appalled by the signal consistancy I get. My girlfriend is on O2 with an old Iphone 3G(?) and regularly gets 2-3 bars more signal then me. The minute a rival networks offer similar rates & data to GiffGaff I'll be jumping ship without a hesitation.

GG piggyback on O2, this has to be a phone signal reporting/pickup issue. For most phones 1-5 bars does not equal regular interval boundaries for SNR (like say 0,20,40,60,80,100% of ideal), they report 4-5 bars for most possible values of the SNR and then rapidly drop 3,2,1,0 as small reductions in SNR affect service quality. The bars are more a representation of service quality that signal strength. Different phones will have the bar-boundaries set differently depending on manufacturer policy, their antenna quality etc etc. Thus only valid comparison is between identical phones on different networks, saying handset A on GG is worse than iPhone on O2 is completely unreliable.