Australian mobile carrier, Optus, has been feeling charitable as they have been giving out “goodwill credits” to iPhone 3G users that have been experiencing slow data speeds and reception problems.
Iphone 3G users the world over have been experiencing similar issues to no avail, as Apple has maintained their usual tight-lipped behavior. Complaints of the same tune have been flooding in all over the world as users continue to experience poor reception, slow internet speeds and dropped calls.
In Australia, IDC telecommunications analyst, Mark Novosel, is testing the 3, Optus, Telstra and Vodafone networks as part of a report that is said to be released later this year, in which Optus has been noted to possess the slowest network speeds by a wide margin.
“From preliminary mobile broadband test findings, Optus appears to be significantly slower than 3 and Telstra Next G, with Vodafone being roughly in line with Optus,” Novosel said adding,”Optus has by far the slowest ping times of the four networks tested and consistently so.” via SMH.
“In Novosel’s test, the times taken for the Optus, Telstra, Vodafone and 3 networks to ping a Sydney-based server were 898ms, 214ms, 258ms and 151ms, respectively.”
This would prove then to not be just coincidence that the vast majority of Australians that have been filing complaints are Optus subscribers. While Optus has refused to comment on these “preliminary” findings, questioning the methodology behind them, despite the 470 conducted tests in various locations on different days.
One Optus customer may be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. Fed up with his poor reception and lackluster speeds, Adam Wells, demanded that Optus issue a refund for not providing adequate service. To his surprise the carrier had issued him a $49 credit, the equivalent of one full month’s payment.
“They’re acknowledging that Optus is in a technical bind with a technology that they signed up with,” Wells said. “Optus users should be going to Optus and seeking some sort of compensation.”
Optus spokeswoman, Melissa Clare has pointed out that this was not a refund, but rather a “goodwill credit” while these issues are being sorted out. Optus does not have any specific return policy for any of their handsets, with “alleged reception issues or poor quality of service.”
While no one is absolutely certain whether these are hardware or network issues, it would seem to me that as more people get wind Optus’ generosity, they will be pressured to continue to give the handouts.
