Looks like Vodafone and O2 are trying to get more iPhone users on their respective camps. The recent weeks after Vodafone’s successful launch of the Apple iPhone has brought plenty of positive reviews of their 3G network. Users have been pretty critical of 3G services for the Apple device since connectivity is a major part of the iPhone experience.

While O2 has had its significant share of criticisms, they have held unto the Apple iPhone market for two straight years before the exclusivity deal ended. In those two years, over two million users have been using the O2 network and pushing the 3G system to its limits. Vodafone has a significantly larger and more powerful network, but also mostly due to the fact that they are not yet saturated by heavy 3G users. While the number of iPhone subscribers under Vodafone has been increasing, they are still far below a quarter of a million.

Now, according to the results of a recent survey, O2’s network is still the faster of the two in terms of straightforward downloading, while the Vodafone network is more adept at browsing and other web functions.

This little survey however, is just a little teaser to the many things to come. UK’s mobile phone industry is now facing the crux of a change. T-Mobile and Orange’s plan to have a merger is coming and it looks like it is just a matter of time before we feel the effects of a major joint venture.

So far, it has always been a pretty balanced set with Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2 and Orange; once the merger pushes through, it will certainly mean a lot of changes for both network operators and subscribers alike.

Read more about the comparative study on different mobile network operator speeds at Know Your Mobile.

Tags: Apple-iPhone

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 10:40 am and is filed under Mobile Phone Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.