O2 + iPhone = Silence

Now, I’m not sure if this is happening to everyone but a number of iPhone users here in the UK are reporting serious reception issues on O2’s network.  It has been reported that an O2 iPhone would find itself with no service when sharing the room with other O2 phones with five bars and an unlocked iPhone on Vodaphone with full service; it seems that Apple’s UK support forums are getting similar reports.  Users are also saying that replacement iPhones don’t exhibit the same problems, so the problem might be with the device itself — but that would be strange, seeing as iPhones in other countries don’t have the same issues.  For its part, Apple appears to be replacing units as they’re brought in, and hasn’t made any official statement on the matter yet.

I know that there have been compatability problems between some phones and the service provider before (I’ve actually had salesmen telling me to wait until all glitches were removed between O2 and a previous handset).  Anyone with an iPhone here in blightly having similar probs or is it all Apple flavoured lovliness?