The carrier’s heavy promotion of aggressively priced wireless broadband and iPhone 3G plans has resulted in the network being overloaded with users, leading to widespread performance problems and frequent outages. The worst of the complaints have come from Sydney, where users have been forced to drop down to the inferior 2G network just so they can receive calls. But customers around the country are reporting problems including call dropouts and slow internet speeds.

All four major record labels - Sony BMG, Universal, EMI and Warner - as well as a range of independent artists have signed on to the Vodafone MusicStation service, which will offer access to more than 1 million tracks and does not charge any fees aside from the weekly subscription cost.

A few weeks ago, I reviewed the Acer Aspire One notebook, the variant which came with an Acer-modified version of Linpus Linux. A few days ago, however, I realised Linux wouldn’t be ideal for me on my netbook. Due to pragmatic reasons, I’m now running Windows XP.

The vast majority of people in Australia experiencing the iPhone 3G problems are Optus customers. Many have reported their experiences on the Fairfax MashUp blog, as well as local Apple community MacTalk.

The Swedish report said the most likely cause of the 3G problems is defective adjustments between the antenna and an amplifier that captures very weak signals from the antenna. This could lead to poor 3G connectivity and slower data speeds.

Users in Australia, Europe and the US have flooded online forums - including Apple’s own discussion boards - with complaints of poor reception, slow internet speeds and dropped calls. The poor reception - often displayed as one bar - and slow speeds are occurring in areas of good coverage and do not seem to affect other phones.

Apple is reportedly about to launch a ‘nano’ version of the hugely successful iPhone. It is expected to be in the shops in time for Christmas. The new slimmed-down version of the iPhone is expected to outstrip sales even of the original.

Optus has experienced a fresh set of problems for 3G mobile users, with many customers simply unable to make calls or access the 3G Internet. The 8 hour outage, which affected NSW, Victoria and Queensland, was compounded by bad advice from customer service staff, who issued annoyed consumers with incorrect instructions for reconnecting to the network.

Optus spokeswoman Elizabeth Greene confirmed that there were issues with the network in Sydney and Melbourne, but did not know what the cause of the issues was. Customers in Melbourne said the 3G network had been down for several hours, while the GSM network appeared to be intact.