Angry users slam down XT network

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A NEW LOOK: Telecom's big push to recapture lost ground in the mobile market has included slick advertising feature Richard Hammond from Top Gear.

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Telecom's much-vaunted XT network is under fire from disgruntled users who say it has failed to live up to its hype.

Telecom went live with its XT network five weeks ago, promising it would be faster than its old network and would give users world-class 3G mobile service in 97% of places where they lived and worked.

But Auckland tutor Nigel Stewart, 32, says he has had nothing but problems since switching over.

"I had no problems on the old CDMA network but this new network sucks," Stewart told the Sunday Star- Times.

The new phone Telecom had given him had been faulty from day one and difficult to use, he said. The phone was not ringing and all incoming calls were going straight to the answerphone. Text messages were also going astray.

Stewart said he had been on to Telecom about the problem numerous times, but they had offered no solutions. Fed up, he finally took the phone back to the Leading Edge store where he bought it and demanded they replace it.

He said staff at the store informed him many other customers had also experienced problems with the phones and were unhappy with the way the network had operated.

Stewart said had he had any notion of the extent of the problems with the new XT network, he would never have changed over to it. "It's been a nightmare - one of the worst things I've ever done. My phone is a big part of my life and it's been so frustrating. It really has sucked, to tell you the truth."

Other XT network users have been voicing their frustration on online message boards.

"Calls from my new XT phone to both cellphone and landline sound like I'm in a barrel, echoey. Been three weeks and still no cure . . . best system in the world???" one user complained. But Telecom is defending the performance of its network, which it has heavily promoted using popular Top Gear star Richard Hammond, saying it has had 90,000 customers sign up in the first month of operation, and only a few of those have experienced any problems.

Spokesman Nick Brown said it was inevitable a few minor problems would occur when a new network was introduced, but no widespread issues had been reported and Telecom's call centre had recorded few complaints.

- © Fairfax NZ News