Factory Unlocked iPhone 3G giving "No Signal" woes

My iPhone 3G is from Italy - factory unlocked. Confirmed by iTunes when doing a restore.
Any UK SIM (o2, Vodafone and Orange) I put in the phone shows "No Signal" unless I am right underneath a tower. BUT, if I put my Malaysian SIM in the phone and run roaming with Maxis I get 4-5 bars everywhere - get that!?
Is it a SIM thing - i.e. different technlogy of SIM cards ? I notice the Malaysian SIM has a smaller active area than the UK SIMs.
Or is my IMEI or ICCID profile somehow blocked b he phone or the phone limiting the juice to he antenna for some reason with a UK SIM.
Running 2.2.1 and 2.30.03
Any advice or next steps I have run out of options.
many thanks to those that can contribute.

Allan
Your advice is about all I can think of doing. I have a friend in Milan that the phone can be sent back to. I have a funny feeling that when I get the phone back I'll have the same issues.....
I can get a antenna replaced here in the UK for about GBP60....but that would invalidate the warranty.
What is a lingering doubt over it being a hardware issue is why would it work perfectly with one contry's SIM and not anothers ?
J

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