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Coverage for 99% of the UK population

TheJayBee
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Registered: ‎26-10-2018

Coverage for 99% of the UK population

I’d love to know how PlusNet (EE) can claim 99% population coverage.

 

I live in a large town and the coverage is rubbish.  Openreach technicians (who use BT Mobile - EE) always struggle to get a signal when they are at my house.  Vodafone and O2 are fine.

 

Is there a process for reporting poor coverage and to find out when/if it will be fixed if you are not an EE/BT Mobile/PlusNet Mobile customer?

17 REPLIES 17
Baldrick1
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Re: Coverage for 99% of the UK population

Coverage claims are very subjective. If you look at coverage maps you will see vast areas that are ‘covered ‘ because a signal can be obtained outdoors but not indoors. Phone sensitivity is presumably also a factor.

If Vodafone and O2 work for you I would have thought that the answer to your problem was obvious. I have recently moved to  Giffgaff who piggy backs onto O2. They are not expensive.

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japitts
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Re: Coverage for 99% of the UK population

Agreed with Baldrick entirely. Also I know it doesn't necessarily help field workers visiting customer premises, but remember BT Mobile & EE do have a few extra tricks up their sleeve for dealing with poor coverage areas 🙂

Not that I'm trying to excuse poor coverage....

fasty
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Re: Coverage for 99% of the UK population

I also believe that as a "mobile virtual network operator" (MVNO), Plusnet don't offer access to Band 20 (800MHz frequency) that is available to direct customers of EE. That 800MHz frequency can give better reception in difficult areas such as inside buildings or rural locations (assuming that the customers phone supports it).

corringham
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Re: Coverage for 99% of the UK population

As mentioned above, Plusnet coverage is not the same as EE coverage as they don't offer access to all of EE's frequencies. Earlier this year I was on holiday in Bedfordshire and had no usable signal for a week on my Plusnet phone (made online banking very difficult, and I had to travel some distance to get a signal), but my work phone on EE had a full 4G signal all week.

TheJayBee
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Re: Coverage for 99% of the UK population

If the coverage is not the same as EE then PlusNet should not be claiming 99% population coverage.

japitts
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Re: Coverage for 99% of the UK population


@TheJayBee wrote:

If the coverage is not the same as EE then PlusNet should not be claiming 99% population coverage.


Out of interest, why not?

Townman
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Re: Coverage for 99% of the UK population

As mentioned above. Though on the EE network, PlusNET does not have access to the whole of the EE network. Therefore the coverage accessible by PlusNET users must be less than 99%

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

japitts
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Re: Coverage for 99% of the UK population

I totally understand about EE users having access to additional 4G coverage, but that doesn't mean that PlusNet coverage must be less than 99% - and that's what I'm querying.

Remember EE were claiming 99%+ population coverage long before they switched on 4G800. Also by its nature, the additional coverage doesn't significantly add to the population claims. Adding to indoor coverage where the coverage claims are often based on outdoors, and adding to rural coverage where there's not a great deal of population.

brianjhill
Newbie
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Registered: ‎07-08-2019

Re: Coverage for 99% of the UK population

99% or not, useless in my home. Changed to Plusnet (from 3) one month ago & no signal in my relatively modern house. 1 bar wnen phone placed against house window! I may have to cancel & pay the fee. Not happy. 

Dumbledore
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
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Re: Coverage for 99% of the UK population

Hello @brianjhill I am deeply sorry to hear that you are unable to use your mobile services whilst you are at home.

 

It is worth checking to see what the coverage is like around your area, you can find this out by entering your postal details on this Link

 

We can further look into this matter for you, if you can please Private Message me your mobile number and full home address.

 

Please comment on this thread once you have PM'd me.

 

Kind regards.

Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Coverage for 99% of the UK population

Good afternoon    brianjhill

 

I find this link better than the EE one  as you can enter your postcode and house number or name

 

https://checker.ofcom.org.uk/mobile-coverage

 

Brian A

fasty
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Re: Coverage for 99% of the UK population

I'm perplexed how plusnet can cite a link to EE coverage map when we have established that Plusnet mobile customers do not have access to all the frequency bands offered to direct EE customers, especially band 20 which has greater ability to reach coverage blackspots such as remote areas and inside buildings.

Or does the EE map not include 800MHz / band 20 coverage ?

japitts
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Registered: ‎17-07-2018

Re: Coverage for 99% of the UK population

EE's map doesn't make a proactive point of mentioning their additional 4G coverage, but the references to "4G calling devices" are there when necessary.

PlusNet have their own coverage map at https://www.plus.net/mobile/coverage-checker

brianjhill
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎07-08-2019

Re: Coverage for 99% of the UK population

Too late now. Unfortunately I trusted the EE site to be accurate. I also trusted Plusnet to be upfront with information re not providing the same coverage ie no 800Mhz. I will be changing providers asap.