Kinda annoyed

[clhglos]

Just recently i've noticed that VM are no longer using Vodafone but O2, like before i was not told when they swapped from EE to Vodafone and now the same thing has happened, problem is there is no 5G coverage in my area so i am paying for 5G and no longer getting the service. #

Not had any 5G in my hometown or work town which is 8 miles away so kinda unhappy now. Any idea's going forward with this ?

[enlli]

Well they don't charge extra for 5G. 

Virgin is now part and parcel with O2 so this change will be permanent. Not sure what type of contract you have but if you are on Freestyle then the airtime element is 30 day rolling so you could change providers but still pay Virgin for the handset.

[clhglos]

I signed to a 5G plan, bought a 5G handset from Google and now I cannot get 5G anywhere hence what I'm paying for. Like what is the point of having 5G SIM card and handset if VM can no longer provide a service.

[paulchambers061 · Accepted solution]

By that rule, all 4 of the big providers don't provide a full service.

I agree that it's annoying that they have moved networks without informing everyone. I did read one of the forum team starting that they didn't have to, but it would have been better for them to be more transparent (but that's not been my impression of them over the years).

5g is still years away from being the dominant network. Where I live there is one provider (3) that has just activated a 5g mast. 4g is better for EE here as a result of 3 sharing the mast, but not 5g with them. At the moment both o2 and vodafone are a bit behind the other 2 with their 5g rollout.

Hindsight I know, but it's worth looking at websites like https://bidb.uk/ for a picture of 3g/4g/5g in your areas.

On that page you can put in your house number and postcode, and after a few seconds the cellular data will appear on the right hand side for o2, Vodafone, 3 and EE.

It'll visually say what the radio signals are like, and pressing each one will give the coverage map.

[clhglos]

Cheers Paul, when VM was on Vodafone the 5G was perfect for me but there is literally 0 coverage for 5G in my home town or the 8mil drive to work which is at best down there H+ just not good enough for me really. Will probably end up ditching VM mobile .... again.

[paulchambers061]

Yeah, I'm on smarty (3). As I said they activated 5g and I can get a signal in parts of the house that face it. 

[japitts]

It's the nature of an MVNO setup such as VM (who don't own their mobile infrastructure) that their mobile service is wholly reliant on whoever their host network is - and that can change sometimes.

Now that VM-UK & O2-UK have a J/V, then all VM's mobile customers will be moved to O2 and that will be a permanent change for as long as the J/V remains in operation.

https://checker.ofcom.org.uk/en-gb/mobile-coverage is as good as way as any to compare the 4 main UK operators, along with checking their individual coverage maps.

Ultimately, if you need/want a specific network's coverage, then have your account with that network directly. Either that, or be prepared to move as an MVNO changes host.

[clhglos]

As i said in a previous post i will most likely leave VM.