Phones 4U scrambles onto EE's back, flings out own virtual network

Phones 4U, the mobile phone retailer, is launching a mobile virtual network that piggybacks on EE's infrastructure so it can offer 4G later in the year. The network will be known as Life Mobile, and joins a roster of 69 or so so-called MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) running in the UK. Of these, 25 are already camped …

[Lionel Baden]

Oh dear

If your going to piggy back off a network you should choose a reliable one !!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Oh dear

Such as? O2 have had outages too.

Which just leaves 3 and Vodafone.

[SMFSubtlety]

Meh

see title

[Paul Leigh]

EE Sucks

per title.

Just did a walk around the southbank, at no point was I able to browse a website reliably. Worst mobile operator I've ever had the misfortune to use. F'ing crap, they are, crap!

[Spearchucker Jones]

Re: EE Sucks

And yet I've never had a better service. I'm on EE with a 4G contract and it's blindingly quick everywhere, except the lift at home and the bathroom at work.

[Silverburn]

Re: EE Sucks

You have a lift at home? Does that come with a butler too?

[Amraj]

Re: EE Sucks

Which Southbank were you walking around?

Here at Southbank, London (Big ben side) I have been walking around with my iPhone 5 during lunch with full EE signal.

Mines the one with a 4G telco mast in the left breast pocket.

[Refugee from Windows]

Re: EE Sucks

South Bank yes - near Teeside University, Thornaby on Tees?

[ritch_b]

Re: EE Sucks

No no no no no. It's Teesside University and it's in Middlesbrough, not Thornaby. The former is easily identified by the larger number of shopping trollies and corpses in the river Tees than can be found in the same river upstream at Thornaby...

[garalus]

Either he has it the wrong way round or he is pissing in the lift and travelling in the bath!

[Anonymous Coward]

What goes around.....

It only seems like 5 minutes since John Caudwell (founder of Phones4U) off loaded singlepoint to Vodafone.

[h3]

Phones4U are the worst company I think universally I think as a matter of corporate policy. Never managed to actually buy anything from them. (They just mess around too much - don't have anyone to just do quick sales.)

They are utter morons. I don't think I will even try buying anything from them again.

(3 times tried to buy something - once they were messing around for over 20 mins (Whilst I just wanted to give them cash get good nothing else no nonsense). / Next different shop I asked them if I could get a certain upgrade they wasted about half an hour instead of checking it in a sensible order / Next time their in store advertising was wrong they wouldn't match it).

I am fairly sure it is a matter of corporate policy. (It seems far too unlikely for everyone working from them to be universally stupid).

[BigAndos]

I resolved never to buy anything from them years ago thanks to their incredibly irrtitating adverts.

[Wize]

Phones4U do have their use. If you know what you want you can often get better deals.

The other half was renewing her mobile contract. Vodafone weren't helpful. The deal we spotted had ended the day before (very small print in the corner with the date) and she was going to have to pay top whack for her new phone. Rude staff etc.

We walked out and tried Phones4U. They did the phone she wanted at a better deal while remaining on Vodafone (not better than the one from the newspaper, just better than the offer in the V shop). As a result she got a better deal and still stayed on the same network.

Though they aren't always that way. When I got mine a few years back, they tried to push me over to 3 and even unboxed the phone I wanted but on 3's network. Stuck to my guns and got what I came for, but others might have been pushed into doing what p4u wanted.

In the end, they are all sales people in all the shops. They either don't want to be bothered with you because they won't make money on your little annoyance or they want to turn a fast buck on you.