Three has been busy lately, as it’s announced in its latest network and IT update that it has made significant upgrades to its 4G network, by rolling out its 1400MHz spectrum to over 1900 sites across the UK.
This spectrum – which the network has had for a little while but hasn’t finished rolling out yet – will apparently increase 4G download speeds by up to three times. It also means Three has now doubled its 4G network capacity on the sites where 1400MHz spectrum is available.
So the upshot is that you should have much higher and more reliable speeds, as well as seeing improvements to 4G coverage both indoors and outside.
You do need a compatible phone to make use of these improvements, but many modern smartphones support 1400MHz spectrum, including the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 ranges, the Samsung Galaxy S21 range (and every Galaxy S range going back to the S8), and phones from OnePlus and Oppo.
Of course, Three is also working hard to improve its 5G network. The company has revealed that it already has 1300 5G sites across the UK, while 3500 of its sites have been upgraded to high-speed, high-capacity fibre capable of 10Gbps transmission. The upshot of this being that customers will get a faster, better and more reliable experience on both 4G and 5G.
This is part of a 5-year programme to deliver the UK’s fastest 5G network, and also forms part of an ongoing £2 billion+ investment into transforming the company’s network and IT infrastructure.
All of this work has happened at a good time too, as the network additionally announced that on April 6 it hit an all-time network demand high during the Manchester United and Liverpool Champions League matches. So all these upgrades will ensure the network can cope with increased demands.
Finally, Three highlighted that an anti-spam filter it implemented at the end of 2020 is performing well. The tool is designed to block spam and fraudulent SMS messages, and the network claims it resulted in a reduction of more than 90% in reports from Three customers to the Spam Reporting Service in the last few months.
