3 are arguing that Orange’s recent advertising campaign, where they claim to have the largest 3G network, is misleading to the public.  They’re especially upset because the figures Orange used to stake the claim come from 3′s own released reports, and have gone with the commercial equivalent of crying to mommy by reporting Orange to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

An Orange spokesman stated that since they cover 93.4 per cent of the population, while 3 covers 91, it’s a pretty clear case.  3 retaliates by saying that if you calculate it differently, 3 is actually the largest network with 95 percent coverage. The key difference is that 3 seems to be focused on area of coverage, while Orange is focusing on the population centers, and 3 insist that an external agency is required to spell out the honest approach.

It’s unclear what 3 will achieve with this: as the smallest of the big five mobile phone networks it needs to be aggressive, but we’d think that focusing on services would be better than arguing over adverts that have already aired.  It’s not like they can suck the ads back out of people’s brains.