Filed under: iPhone
UK to get 4th carrier for iPhone
When I visited Liverpool last month, I saw that Tesco was everywhere -- as big box store, as a gas station, in smaller markets, and even Tesco Mobile, a joint venture with O2. So, it's no surprise to me to hear that Tesco is planning to offer the iPhone at its stores in the UK. A spokesperson told the BBC that the phone will be available "in time for Christmas." Tesco joins O2, Vodafone and Orange in selling the iPhone.
[Via Engadget]
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Joanna D said 12:13PM on 11-25-2009
If it's still on O2 then the coverage is going to remain terrible.
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racco said 12:20PM on 11-25-2009
its just O2 in a cheap shirt.
Sod that!
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Ross said 12:55PM on 11-25-2009
If they can actually bring out the iPhone at a reasonable price then great....else meh
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Alex Brooks said 12:44PM on 11-25-2009
Mildly misleading title, Tesco just uses O2's network so its not really a fourth carrier.
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David said 12:47PM on 11-25-2009
@joanna
I am writing this on the train with 5 bar 3g coverage. Yes I am on o2! sorry their 99.5% coverage isn't good enough for you
@racco
Yes tesco is o2 but same phone same coverage means one thing... ...less cost! Competition is good people!
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Alex Brooks said 1:56PM on 11-25-2009
@david
I invite you to come to London, the countries largest city where you'll be unable to connect a call at 5PM in the evening. Almost certainly be unable to maintain a 3G connection and will frequently suffer no service in Canary Wharf.
Welcome to O2.
P.s. I've never been able to maintain any kind of connection on a train, not with 3, Orange or O2.
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David Darkins said 3:32PM on 11-25-2009
Canary Wharf is the worst place ever for O2 connection
So many times I have picked up a call to have it cut out instantly
HB said 4:04PM on 11-25-2009
O2 has appalling 3G coverage, especially in London. No idea if any of the other networks are better but I struggle to maintain 3G reception at the best of times. My favourite has to be yoyo-ing between EDGE and 3G which means you only get reception about 50% of the time as your phone switches transmitters.
David said 4:15PM on 11-25-2009
@Alex
I have heard that London is bad, I have been using o2 for the last 10 years with no major problems (all over the south east). Never really experienced London until recently and I now catch a train into Paddington (and then back out on a different line) and it does go to edge or 2 bar 3G in the station. But where I work near Acton its fine.
Ed said 6:58PM on 11-25-2009
I don't get a terribly good signal at my parents house in Westminster/Kensington and often get cut off. That's despite the 3 nearest phone masts apparently all being O2 (according to OFFCOM).
I travel down to Brighton on the train a couple of times a week and get a good signal almost all the way (except for tunnels, though some tunnels appear to have masts in them).
3G in Brighton itself can be very patchy and very slow too - I've had simple sites take a good few minutes to load sometimes and just going inside can easily cut me off entirely...
I don't have any other network to compare to, but friends say Vodaphone is much better.
David said 2:16AM on 11-26-2009
@ed
Having lived in Brighton for 3 years I found o2 to work everywhere for voice calls (pre iphone days). However 3G is very patchy on the seafront, I think it could be possible that its hard to triangulate when you are on the coast.
I did used to get full reception (unlike my house mates on Orange) where I lived just of Western Road.
Ovingdean is the worst though, nothing works there (not even voice) except tmobile!
iGlad said 7:22PM on 11-25-2009
My o2 contract ends in jan 2010 and i'll be switching to a sim only card for only £19.99 same deal as i'm paying £35pm for except no wifi out and about which i never use not on contract month by month that will do me. I don't think the Tesco offering will be much good hope I'm wrong though. Will also look at Vodaphone but wont go near Orange.
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Steevie said 9:52AM on 11-26-2009
It's the PAYG price that interests me. If they get it for just £399 then I think I'm going to buy it. My Nokia N95 8GB has been playing up for a while now and I've been looking at buying a PAYG iPhone, but that price point could be the sweet point for me. Also, on the subject of Tesco, my voucher codes are giving away a £500 Tesco voucher today http://www.myvouchercodes.co.uk/free-giveaway. I didn't win :(
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Rex said 5:26PM on 12-01-2009
@Alex simple solution - take a leaf out of large numbers of intelligent people's books: don't spend time in the dirtiest most overcrowded city in the country and move somewhere more up market - like the north or the west. Never understood the O2 coverage gripes - any network has good and bad patches so more networks = more chance of coverage where you need it and to echo David, even if this isn't another network, more competition = better pricing for us the consumer.
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jessicaKloser said 12:44AM on 12-02-2009
Hey that's a real cool news for people like me.As such I was planning to get a O2 this Christmas.
credit union
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