A few months back, Everything Everywhere was announced. The company name, as silly as it sounds, combines (as of today, July 1) the Orange and the T-Mobile brands under one large company.
Right now you'll see no real differences as you'll still be billed by T-Mobile or Orange and will still be able to walk in to either of their stores to buy the same branded handsets and contracts. The main difference is the organisation up above, although eventually some good changes will filter down to users such as being able to roam freely across the two networks in the UK which should give a good boost for those who get a bad signal in certain areas.
The press release from earlier this year had this to say about the two networks...
"Everything Everywhere is creating the country's biggest and best mobile network. The ambition is to combine both the Orange and T-Mobile networks, cut out duplication, and create a single super-network. For customers it will mean bigger network and better coverage, while reducing the number of stations and sites which is good for cost reduction as well as being good for the environment. Later this year, customers will experience the first benefits of the merger, with the ability to roam across both networks at no additional cost."
My own T-Mobile contract ends later this year and I was planning on moving. It will be interesting to see if the roaming across networks improves the signal in my area, ie an automatic switch to Orange when needed.
Via: TFTS