BT set to undercut rivals with return to mobile biz

BT will launch its own 4G network when it returns to the mobile market within the next few days, it has been reported. According to the Telegraph, the former state monopoly – which proposed a huge £12.5bn takeover of mobe operator EE late last year – will name its service BT Mobile and offer it only to the firm's broadband …

[Clockworkseer]

Hopefully better than Anywhere

Anyoen remember BT Anywhere? The last dregs of BT's mobile strategy previous to the EE thing.

"We'll give you a substandard phone for a large payment, and tell you you get inclusive calls. What you'll actually get is a small minutes allowance like a much cheaper normal mobile contract, and set it so that it switches to our VOIP when you're near one of our public wifi hubs."

Gods that sucked.

[PNGuinn]

Re: Hopefully better than Anywhere

BT Anywhere + Nothing Nowhere.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Destroy All Monsters]

Re: Hopefully better than Anywhere

What could possibly go wrong?

Everything everywhere.

And then you get a dunning letter for services not provided.

[Bloodbeastterror]

No thank you

These shambling incompetent morons will have to pay *me* to take their "service". I wouldn't touch them again with *yours*...

[cantankerous swineherd]

BT - spawn of the devil.

[Dave Lawton]

OMG

I thought things couldn't get worse when T-Mobile was subsumed by Orange, but they did :(

I have major history with BT, every single thing they've ever done for me, they've managed to screw up, so you can imagine my despair when I heard that they were taking over EE.

I just wish we had proper alternatives, and a regulator with teeth, sigh.

[launcap]

Re: OMG

> I have major history with BT

Likewise. They are, however, better than the foetid devils toenail clippings that are Virgin Media or TalkTalk.

Only just mind, only just..

[Tezfair]

need to work hard

I ditched EE the day they announced the takeover and went to Three. This essentially saved me £20 per month

[MOV r0,r0]

I really hope BT earn loadsamoney with this as thanks to the Government losing in court to them, the public purse is now responsible for any toxicity in BT's pension scheme from its state ownership period.

That moment. That moment right there is when I would have re-nationalised then flogged the whole thing again against the pension risk. BT looks to me like a huge pension deficit with a modest telecoms company hanging off the back for dear life. Think 'Too Big To Fail' ended with the banks in 2008? It's a slower burner but it will not end well.

[Vimes]

How are they going to undercut the market? By using Phorm again?

Or perhaps they've found a new way to screw with the privacy that their customers want?

[Anonymous Coward]

Beyond Toxic

Picking a mobile operator in the UK is less a case of picking the best suited than avoiding the most abysmal. The only thing I can imagine BT bringing to the table is to raise levels of PR bollocks in the industry to new heights of meaningless waffle while plumbing the depths of despair with the actual service, with Ofcom as benignly grinning spectators.

Better with Tin cans (and string).

[Big_Ted]

OOooo PLEASE .....

Please please please BT announce some crazy low prices. My contract with 3 is ready for renewal and I would love something to use to try for a better deal.....

Would never go BT though or even EE after experience with them.

[Oh Matron!]

Re: OOooo PLEASE .....

I've been SIM only with Three for the last year and have NO intention of leaving. I'm only rating £20 odd quid a month, get free roaming in 17 countries, more than enough 4G (it's unlimited), Tethering, and the ability to cancel on a whim. I truly cannot see BT getting anywhere near this. However, truth behold, none of the Big three can get near this anyway!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: OOooo PLEASE .....

Another thumbs up for Three. I've been with them 2 years and have no complaints; excellent coverage and speed in London although the service is probably patchier than most outside major towns. Can't argue with price either - £10 a month for the first year for unlimited calls + data, tethering allowed, with a Quidco cashback, £15pm after. Their unlimited actually seems to mean it too - I cane both calls and data without any throttling.

From past experience with BT, you just end up paying more for indifferent service, so no thanks.

[Vimes]

Re: OOooo PLEASE .....

3 seem to have reasonably good connection in deepest Devon (near Salcombe to be precise).

Given the price you pay compared to what you get I would personally wonder how you think things could be better.

[PeterM42]

Re: OOooo PLEASE .....

"I would love something to use to try for a better deal...."

You need to look at GiffGaff. m8.

BT stands for Bunch of Tossers, BTW

[Cynical Shopper]

Undercutting rivals

Monthly cost: FREE*

* plus £15 line rental

[cs94njw]

With all the BT HomeHubs all over the country, perhaps they can abuse them to backhaul telecoms?

Or install apps which use HomeHubs/WiFi instead of a mobile signal.

[Gary Lloyd 1]

ive been a 3 user for a few years and they have their packages absolutely bang on. Truly unlimited data, i have often used it as a broadband source when my BT line goes wobbly.

As already mentioned, data roaming up to 25GB in lots of other countries and 4G all over the place in the UK too. I really loathe BT especially their insistence on line rental. absolute CON.

[Anonymous Coward]

" I really loathe BT especially their insistence on line rental. absolute CON."

The reduction in signal strength that tends to occur when the pair of wires carrying the service is removed often has a dramatic effect on broadband speeds.

You'd probably find that broadband without line rental would cost less but also offer much less value, what with the service no longer working.