Vodafone and O2 to share networks!

Vodafone and O2 (Telefonica) have just announced that they have entered into a network sharing agreement which will see it's networks in Ireland, UK, Germany and Spain sharing networks and working together on future upgrades. Some of the benifits of this agreement are:

Offer enhanced quality of service levels within the network footprint to improve customers’ mobile experience as well as support the delivery of services such as mobile broadband to a greater number of customers across a wider coverage area

Reduce the environmental impact of the network by lowering the number of sites required by each company

Reduce network operating costs

Continue to manage their traffic independently

Jointly build new sites where opportunities exist

The full press release can be found HERE:

O2 and the Palm Pre

The most recent rumors suggest that Telefonica (O2's parent company) will get the Palm Pre on exclusive.

This has slightly ticked me off if it turns out to be true. O2 already have the iPhone and I feel (and hope) that Vodafone fought tooth and nail to get the Pre.

It's the only real phone in the pipeline that could actually fully compete with the iPhone (I'm declaring here that I don't have an iPhone, nor do i want one. It's too flawed!. I'll talk more about that another time!).

One of the reasons I'm hoping for the Pre to hit Vodafone, is that here in Ireland, I'm on Vodafone and while some people don't like Vodafone here, I do. I've always had great service and coverage. Their product line up is getting better and their Tariffs are pretty good as well (and i'm constantly getting nice promo add-on's cause I use my phone so much, so that helps).

I don't like O2, never have (and i used to work for them). I just feel their network is second rate as is their tariffs and customer service. This is all personal opinion, but regardless, i really hope Vodafone announces the Pre. We may find more more today as Palm are showing off more features of the Pre in an event later today in the US.