'Telstra's Next G better than CDMA?

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mobygeek

307 posts

Ultimate Geek

#18680 19-Jan-2008 11:13

I went to the link regarding numbers still on CDMA from the topic of Telstra not being allowed to switch off CDMA yet. In it therer is a statement -

Mr Hunt said CDMA phones had now been superseded by Next G, which offered equivalent and, in some regions, better geographical coverage than CDMA.

Is this true?

Last time Telstra said 'Equivalent', in regard to the closure of analogue and the building of the CDMA network, it meant that the same number of people would be able to access the network, not necessarily the exact same coverage. I know, I was there, albeit as an agent for the reseller...

sbiddle

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#105655 19-Jan-2008 11:24

If this chart is to believed the Next G network is far superior

http://www.imobile.com.au/WhatsNew/

> 2 million sq kms for next G and 98.9% population coverage

vs

> 1.6 million sq kms for CDMA and 98% population coverage.

sbiddle

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#105659 19-Jan-2008 11:35

From the offical Government report that had to compare both

http://www.dbcde.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/80704/CDMA-Next_G_Coverage_Equivalence.pdf

The drive survey found a total of approximately 17 km of coverage discrepancy in favour of
CDMA, most probably resulting from antenna occlusion, in a total drive survey of
approximately 15,000 km. This amounts to approximately 0.1%.

mobygeek

307 posts

Ultimate Geek

#105660 19-Jan-2008 11:37

The first thing in that comparison in the link you just gave me (very interesting, too, thank you!) is the number of towers. 6000 Next G vs 3480 CDMA. Now, I take it that Next G is already up and running, for existing 'GSM' customers. (I suppose that's what they are?) However, what is the Distance the signal will reach. This is important to know - if one CDMA tower covers a larger area than Next G, then the comparison between numbers of cell sites is a bit of a straw man argument, isn't it? Another thing Telstra is saying is that it took 6 years for CDMA to be 'perfected'. What they don't say is that Analogue was actually switched off over a period of time, and CDMA was released over a period of time. Cities went first, then regional centres, then the rest of the country, so to speak... And I will be gracious and say the 'rest of the country' was switched off earlier than stated presumably because of the uptake of CDMA.

mobygeek

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#105661 19-Jan-2008 11:39

My reply just then was for your first reply... You're too quick for me!!!

nzbnw

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#105667 19-Jan-2008 12:19

If you go to the Telstra Media link about the new closure date, under the audio attachments, according to Telstra, they must close the CDMA network, as they can no longer get the handsets! I smell BS!

Over the last two weeks I have spent in Aussie, I have noticed that CDMA coverage was fantasic, and along the Great Ocean Road (Melbourne), I was getting coverage where others could not get GSM coverage at times, and a Next G phone also has nothing.

nzbnw

sbiddle

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#105674 19-Jan-2008 13:32

I don't want to sound like a Telstra Troll here (because I'm not) but speaking to a couple of people I know in Oz who work for competing networks many experienced cellular techs are in awe over the Next G rollout. There are people and politicians who are attacking the network but the reality is Telstra rolled out the largest 850Mhz WCDMA network in the world at a blistering pace pace, delivered coverage that exceeds that of the CDMA network and have a network that outperforms the other two 2100Mhz WCDMA networks of 3/Telstra and Optus/Vodafone. It truely is a fantastic network, only let down at present by a smaller range of handsets than the 2100MHz networks.

IMHO a lot of the knockers are simply trying to criticise the network simply because Telstra built it, in the same way people seem to love critisising Telecom here in New Zealand. If you read the government report into the coverage I find it amazing that given the size of the network and differing characteristics of CDMA & WCDMA all they could pick up were a handful of issues. There are people saying that the 3 month delay is nothing but politics with a new communications minister wanting to be "popular" by doing the "right thing" because the public don't seem in a hurry to change and by misleading information being spread around.

nzbnw

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#105694 19-Jan-2008 16:22

I agree totally with you, Telstra's WCDMA network is the fastest in Australia (if not the world in terms of HSDPA), and it is logical to switch from running 3 networks (GSM 900, WCDMA 2100, CDMA) to one (Next G). It remains to be seen however how successful Telstra will be at this transition.

My comments come from a New Zealand prospective, and I don't want to in anyway indulge in Telstra or any Telco bashing, as it seems to have become the norm over the last few years.

nzbnw

{Edit} CDMA corrected to WCDMA / first line

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mobygeek

307 posts

Ultimate Geek

#105917 21-Jan-2008 10:11

sbiddle, you are probalby right about the minister... The thought crossed my mind that it's all politics... I was in Moonta in SA over Christmas, (approximately half way between Adelaide and Whyalla just to really be helpful!) I didn't think to compare my Optus GSM coverage with my Telecom CDMA, I was hiding from the rest of the world, if you know what I mean...

Anyway, what you wrote was all very interesting. Wonder if there is an Australian version of Geekzone, and what they are all saying?

nzbnw

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#105976 21-Jan-2008 16:24

mobygeek: Wonder if there is an Australian version of Geekzone, and what they are all saying?

Whirlpool?

More or less this forum: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-threads.cfm?f=114

nzbnw

tallPete

99 posts

Master Geek

#105994 21-Jan-2008 19:11

It is generally regarded here that Telstras NextG network has the best coverage, better than the other non 3G networks, and then at the bottom of the pile are the other 3G networks. Telstra have done a pretty good job.