920 to be EE exclusive in UK

[cgk]

From engadget:

"Also, EE just confirmed to us that -- as rumored -- it has exclusivity over the Lumia 920."

No idea how wide that window is.

 

[mmacleodbrown]

It is unclear as to what they mean by 'exclusive'

A quick check of retailers such as clove or expansys still shows them as listing the phone SIM free.
Im desperately hoping that the exclusive bit is around EE being the only network to offer them on a subsidised contract. Otherwise I will have to look to the EU suppliers or the grey market to get mine

Crossed fingers until more news arrives

 

[cgk]

It is unclear as to what they mean by 'exclusive'

A quick check of retailers such as clove or expansys still shows them as listing the phone SIM free.
Im desperately hoping that the exclusive bit is around EE being the only network to offer them on a subsidised contract. Otherwise I will have to look to the EU suppliers or the grey market to get mine

Crossed fingers until more news arrives

Exclusive generally means that they they are the only network who will sell a subsided model, that has never impacted the sale of SIM-only phones (which is how I buy mine).

However, if you decide to go with another network, you will be stuck with 3G only (which I know that some people will be perfectly happy with).

 

[SnailUK]

Generally you get the best deals when you move networks, and i'm on O2 at the moment, so this doesn't really bother me.

Just want to know prices now, if the price is reasonable, then i'm in.

Looking at the coverage maps for Orange and T Mobile, i should have good coverage at home and work, so i have no problems.

Be interesting to see the LTE rollout schedule for EE. Hope southampton is not going to take too long.

 

[cgk]

Generally you get the best deals when you move networks, and i'm on O2 at the moment, so this doesn't really bother me.

You don't really anymore - the best deals (except for sucker deals why they give you lots of something you don't use) are SIM-only rolling contracts and buying your own phone outright and then being able to switch rapidly between networks as deals change.

We know they are not going to offer PAYG and I'm guessing they are going to tie down years on 18-24 month contracts with quite high price plans - I'm going to be surprised (in a nice way) if the first wave plans are below ?45 a month.

 

[mmacleodbrown]

Im a SIM free person with a rolling contract - its the only way to get any value out of the networks any more

 

[cinek]

You don't really anymore - the best deals (except for sucker deals why they give you lots of something you don't use) are SIM-only rolling contracts and buying your own phone outright and then being able to switch rapidly between networks as deals change.

We know they are not going to offer PAYG and I'm guessing they are going to tie down years on 18-24 month contracts with quite high price plans - I'm going to be surprised (in a nice way) if the first wave plans are below ?45 a month.

I've checked the sim only deals today for t-mobile and they don't give you much internet allowance - I hope this changes when they merge although I doubt as they'll want to maximise their profits

need to wait for other carriers before the pricing will be fair

 

[cgk]

I've checked the sim only deals today for t-mobile and they don't give you much internet allowance - I hope this changes when they merge although I doubt as they'll want to maximise their profits

need to wait for other carriers before the pricing will be fair

So early 2014 I would think :dry

 

[shaunydub]

I think it's a bad move for a platform that needs to expand it's user base.
A lot of people stay on the same network, if they won't move to Orange or T-Mob normally they won't move to EE let alone WP.

 

[cinek]

So early 2014 I would think :dry

unfortunately yes I hope 3 UK will start to roll out their 4g network this year that'll make some competition for EE

 

[Gorki247]

Read the news this morning; not a good idea in my opinion. Hopefully this won't affect the availability of unlocked devices; even if they are non-LTE devices. LTE won't be widely available here in the UK until late 2013 anyway.

EE is certainly making a good start promoting their exclusivity deal by calling it the Nokia Lumina in one of their tweets.

 

[mafu6]

I think that they are marketing it as an exclusive quiet well and its confusing a few people.

Here is my take on the matter

The Nokia Lumia 920 LTE will be an EE exclsuive because its the only company in the UK that will be able to offer LTE on launch of the phone (depending on 3UK).

I think you will be able to get the Lumia 920 on other networks but they will only be the 3G models, so when the other networks start their LTE networks Lumia 920 3G models wont be able to take advantage of it. For some people they will be very annoyed with this and I have no doubt IF this does happen I can only imagain the new of threads and blog popping up saying the Lumia 920 isnt a good phone.

I am undecided on wether to switch to EE from my current contract. My current contract is up at end of October and unfortunatly i dont live in a LTE city. Depending on the Prices of the LTE plans i may not switch until the LTE network covers 100% of the UK which will probably be 2015 which means i will be due another upgrade by then.

Decisions, decsions... guess Ill have to wait for EE coverage map and price confirmations before i finally make a decsion. I am a die hard android user and have used all the Nexus devcies bar the Nexus 7 (I have a HP Touchpad). I am excited for the release of W8/WP8 and i am sure microsfot are on to a winner.

Anyway heres hoping the Lumia 920 is only a EE exclusive on 4GEE and not across the board!

 

[cgk]

unfortunately yes I hope 3 UK will start to roll out their 4g network this year that'll make some competition for EE

They can't - EE doesn't have to hand over the spectrum that would allow them to have a 4g network before either Oct/Nov 2013 (I can't remember off the top of my head).

 

[BellaRed]

I just read the twitter feed of Brendan Arndt, Device Portfolio Manger for 3UK. @wildlime on twitter.

He appears to be testing wp8 phones. He tweeted a pic of a 920 on 14/9/12. He even has his twitter profile pic on the device.

He says it is super fast, buttery smooth and he loves the live tiles

Perhaps it is safe to say these phones are coming to 3UK, possibly after any potential EE exclusivity period.

3UK often sell the phones outright on pay and go but locked to 3. Ok with me as I have a 3 pay and go sim on one of my phones with AYCE (all you can eat data , unlimited) for ?15pm.

 

[cinek]

I just read the twitter feed of Brendan Arndt, Device Portfolio Manger for 3UK. @wildlime on twitter.

He appears to be testing wp8 phones. He tweeted a pic of a 920 on 14/9/12. He even has his twitter profile pic on the device.

He says it is super fast, buttery smooth and he loves the live tiles

Perhaps it is safe to say these phones are coming to 3UK, possibly after any potential EE exclusivity period.

3UK often sell the phones outright on pay and go but locked to 3. Ok with me as I have a 3 pay and go sim on one of my phones with AYCE (all you can eat data , unlimited) for ?15pm.

wasn't iphone 5 supposed to be exclusive to EE too and then it turned out every one was accepting pre-orders? I wouldn't really look at this at all

 

[BellaRed]

I never heard of any rumoured exclusivity with the iPhone 5. Wouldn't have made sense when previous iPhones are available to all networks and customers entitled to upgrade on their own network providers. 4G or no 4G.

I think they may well be some rumpus this time next year when a lot will discover they can't get 4G on O2 or Vodafone. Methinks it wasn't properly explained to them upon purchase. Those who keep up to date with tech news will be aware but the masses probably won't until later. Ah well, iPhone 6 should be out by then!

It is just when EE was launched, exclusivity was mentioned for the Nokia phones it later got clarified to a period of exclusivity.

 

[Big Supes]

If the 920 works out ridiculously expensive on EE, and it's still available on other networks running 3G, I think I'll go the 3G route, as it's going to take a little while before the UK advances the speeds of 4G anyway.

 

[BellaRed]

I have no intention of joining EE. Am happy to wait for 4G to become more widespread, and for the playing field to be more level. This should mean better pricing for customers but we will have to pay more than we do now like it or not. Hopefully the prices will be reasonable.

EE 4G is only going to reach 16 UK cities by the end of 2012.

 

[cinek]

if ee will have unlimited data plans with e.g. 300 mins, 1k texts for 1 month contract on 4g for about ?20 I'll go for it, anything more than that is a rip off

 

[BellaRed]

if ee will have unlimited data plans with e.g. 300 mins, 1k texts for 1 month contract on 4g for about ?20 I'll go for it, anything more than that is a rip off

That's very unlikely. I don't think either Orange or T Mobile have any unlimited plans. The T Mobile one is capped. It would however get them a lot of new customers if they did do it at that price.

You'll be lucky to get something like 500mb for ?20 perhaps, 1GB at a push. It will be interesting to see the pricing structure they come up with, they did hint that it wouldn't be too great a difference, we shall see.

The networks are making less and less money on calls and texts, data is now where most of their revenue will come from. Soon they're going to be paying billions for spectrum from the auction of old analogue signals..... They will want to make that back.

I feel 4G will be pricey at first and like most things it will get cheaper over time.