sbiddle:

ajw:

sbiddle:

ajw:

freitasm: Telecom built the network with the spectrum available.

With respect, part one of the Telecom exercise was 850 MHZ GSM and 2100MHZ for UMTS this was ditched about six months into the contract (and a waste of millions of dollars) for a dedicated 850/2100 3G network.
There are only three countries in the world that have this type of network.
TelecomNZ, Telstra Australia, and AT&T in the USA. Hence the higher cost of handsets and lack of handset choice. Please correct me if wrong.

Last I heard there were around 50 live 850MHz WCDMA networks in the world. Google hasn't helped me much in finding an exact number.

All of North America uses this (both USA and Canada) and most of the countries in South America also use this band. Smartel have also deployed 850Mhz in Hong Kong, Vodafone have deployed 850MHz in Aussie, 850Mhz is used in Thailand, and is also being deployed in some Eastern European markets. It's also expected that this band will eventually be used in the UK for mobile.

My statement was dedicated 850/2100 UMTS networks not dedicated 850 on its own or 2100 MHZ on its own.
Check out the link for your self

http://maps.mobileworldlive.com/

And I listed a lot of the countries who have deployed 850MHz UMTS networks - it's not limited to 3 networks in 3 countries like you inferred. There are now millions and millions of users on 850MHz WCDMA networks globally.

The fact Telecom have deployed 2100Mhz means nothing - it's there purely for capacity since they own the management rights for the spectrum. 2100MHz band I isn't available in North America, or most of the South American countries that have deployed networks, so they can't use this for additional capacity. In North America and Canada only part of band I is available, hence the AWS 1700/2100 split for FDD.