UPDATE – The T-Mobile and Orange network merger has gone live today so you may find that you will get a few extra reception bars on your mobile if you are on T-Mobile or Orange. Please note that the roaming service is not setup by default – you will need to activate the service. If you are a T-Mobile customer you can activate roaming here, if you are an Orange customer you can do it here.
Good news if you are an Orange or T-Mobile SIM only customer because from 5th October if you lose your mobile phone signal on either T-Mobile or Orange you will be automatically switched to the other network so that you will be able to get a phone signal. This free roaming service has come about due to the recent merger between Orange and T-Mobile and will be available on the 2G network – in other words the network switching service can be used for voice calls but not for mobile Internet which would use 3G.
It is clear that one of the major advantages to the merger of Orange and T-Mobile which made the new Everything Everywhere company was that the two companies would be able to share networks. On 5th October, T-Mobile and Orange users will need to sign up for the free roaming service which works by hopping between the two networks whenever a phone signal is lost, in a similar way to how your phone will roam for new networks when you take your mobile phone abroad.
Once the technology has been released in full next year it is understood that mobile phones on Orange or T-Mobile will be able to automatically switch to the strongest network signal mid call without the call being dropped.
Furthermore, there are also plans to roll the technology out to include 3G signals for improved mobile broadband access. When the 3G network signal switching service is introduced, Orange users will be able to use a 3G network which is owned and operated by Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL). MBNL is a joint venture operated between the 3 network and T-Mobile. Therefore, the new 3G network operated between Orange, 3 and T-Mobile should provide the largest and most reliable 3G network in the UK.