| Topic: | Re:Re:O2 reception in Grove Park | |
| Posted by: | Chris Martin | |
| Date/Time: | 21/10/14 18:36:00 |
| "Was really surprised by the watchdog story this week which showed that in any operators t&C's it showed they don't have to provide you with an in home service and if you wish to leave (to try another operator) then they can ask that you buy out your contract in full." Typical Watchdog reporting though as a few simple facts help to explain why that's reasonable in most cases: 1. Most people are walking round with £500-700 phones in their pockets. The operator buys the phone and effectively gives HP to the consumer. If they didn't ask the consumer to buy out the contract for early termination they would make a substantial loss - with other consumers ultimately paying for that through increased prices. 2. Operators can't always restore service in the event of a fault - things like cranes being erected can interrupt line of sight communications for backhaul on masts. With each mast costing anything up to £1/2m and everyone protesting each and every planning application there sometimes aren't any ways of solving the problem. 3. Operators can't always mitigate for the construction of homes. The wavelength used for 3g is especially susceptible to things like steel beams, the oxide film on double glazed windows and foil backed wall / roof insulation. No matter what operators do, the design of some homes means that a good signal may never be achievable - so if a consumer moves from a home with "good" coverage to one with poor coverage due to the design of the building, should the operator really pay for that? |