3G portal in 2G area

For about an hour last night I could access the full 3G portal even though I was in a 2G area (as I am 90% of the time) and it was fantastic! Finally able to read the text news and things like that without being forced to be in a 3G area!

I thought Three had finally seen sense like they did with internet access. After all, if you can access the internet now even if you're stuck in a 2G area, you might as well be allowed to see the whole portal.

And then it stopped working and went back to the restricted portal again.

a) Was this a testing period meaning they're planning to do this, or just a mistake?

b) Is there any way to work around this stupid limitation regardless of what Three decide?